807.10.Settlements in behalf of minors or individuals adjudicated incompetent; judgments.

Section 807.10 governs how claims belonging to minors or individuals adjudicated incompetent get compromised or settled. Subsection (1) lets a guardian, if represented by an attorney, or a guardian ad litem, compromise or settle an action or proceeding to which the minor or incompetent individual is a party, with the approval of the court in which it is pending. Subsection (2) extends that authority to claims that have not yet become lawsuits: a cause of action in favor of or against a minor or incompetent individual may be settled without commencing an action, by the guardian (if represented by an attorney) with the approval of the court that appointed the guardian, or by the guardian ad litem with the approval of any court of record. An order approving that kind of settlement and directing its consummation carries the same force and effect as a judgment of the court.

Subsection (3) addresses a narrower situation: a smaller award, at or below the amount specified in Section 867.03 (1g) (intro.), for a minor or incompetent individual who has no guardian. There, the court may, on application by the guardian ad litem after judgment or in the order approving settlement, fix and allow the expenses of the action, including attorney fees and guardian ad litem fees, authorize payment of the total recovery to the clerk of court, and direct the guardian ad litem, once payment is made, to satisfy and discharge the judgment or execute releases and enter a stipulation dismissing the action on its merits. The order must also direct the clerk to pay the costs, disbursements, and expenses of the action from that recovery and to dispose of the balance in a manner provided in Section 54.12 (1), as the court selects, with the clerk’s fee for that service prescribed in Section 814.61 (12)(a).