803.10.Substitution of parties.

If a party dies and the claim survives, the court may order substitution of the proper party, on motion by any party or by the deceased’s successors or representatives, served on the parties under section 801.14 and, for nonparties, in the manner of a summons under section 801.11. That motion has to be made within 90 days after the death is suggested on the record, or the action is dismissed as to the deceased party. But if the surviving right belongs only to the remaining plaintiffs, or runs only against the remaining defendants, the action does not abate at all; the death is suggested on the record and the case proceeds among the survivors. If a party is adjudicated incompetent, the court, on motion served the same way, may allow the action to continue by or against that party’s representative, and a transfer of interest lets the action continue in the original party’s name unless the court, on motion, orders the transferee substituted or joined.

When a public officer sued in an official capacity dies, resigns, or otherwise leaves office during the case, the action does not abate; the successor is automatically substituted, proceedings continue in the successor’s name, and any misnomer that does not affect substantial rights is disregarded. A formal order of substitution is not required for the substitution to take effect, though one may be entered at any time. An officer can be sued or described by official title rather than by name, though the court may require the name to be added.

Once there has been an accepted settlement offer, a verdict, a referee’s report, or a court finding, a party’s death does not abate the case; it proceeds as though the claim survived, or judgment can be entered in the original parties’ names if the offer, verdict, report, or finding still stands. But a verdict, report, or finding rendered against a party after that party’s death is void.