Wis. Stat. § 48.422

This is the official text of Wis. Stat. § 48.422, part of Wisconsin’s Wisconsin Statutes — the complete compiled statutory law of Wisconsin, organized into numbered chapters by subject.

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Official statutory text

(b) If the court determines that an unknown person may be the father of the child and notice to that person has not been waived under s. 48.42 (4) (b) 3. , the court shall determine whether constructive notice will substantially increase the likelihood of notice to that person. If the court does determine that it would substantially increase the likelihood of notice and the petitioner has not already caused the notice to be published or the court determines that the publication used was not sufficient, the court shall adjourn the hearing for a period not to exceed 30 days and shall order constructive notice under s. 48.42 (4) (b) . If the court determines that constructive notice will not substantially increase the likelihood of notice to that person, the court shall order that the hearing proceed.

(c) If paternity is adjudicated under this subchapter and parental rights are not terminated, the court may make and enforce such orders for the suitable care, custody and support of the child as a court having jurisdiction over actions affecting the family may make under ch. 767 . If there is a finding by the court that the child is in need of protection or services, the court may make dispositional orders under s. 48.345 .

(7) Before accepting an admission of the alleged facts in a petition, the court shall:

(a) Address the parties present and determine that the admission is made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the acts alleged in the petition and the potential dispositions.

(b) Establish whether any promises or threats were made to elicit an admission and alert all unrepresented parties to the possibility that a lawyer may discover defenses or mitigating circumstances which would not be apparent to them.

(bm) Establish whether a proposed adoptive parent of the child has been identified. If a proposed adoptive parent of the child has been identified and the proposed adoptive parent is not a relative of the child, the court shall order the petitioner to submit a report to the court containing the information specified in s. 48.913 (7) . The court shall review the report to determine whether any payments or agreement to make payments set forth in the report are coercive to the birth parent of the child or to an alleged to presumed father of the child or are impermissible under s. 48.913 (4) . Making any payment to or on behalf of the birth parent of the child, an alleged or presumed father of the child or the child conditional in any part upon transfer or surrender of the child or the termination of parental rights or the finalization of the adoption creates a rebuttable presumption of coercion. Upon a finding of coercion, the court shall dismiss the petition or amend the agreement to delete any coercive conditions, if the parties agree to the amendment. Upon a finding that payments which are impermissible under s. 48.913 (4) have been made, the court may dismiss the petition and may refer the matter to the district attorney for prosecution under s. 948.24 (1) . This paragraph does not apply if the petition was filed with a petition for adoptive placement under s. 48.837 (2) .

(br) Establish whether any person has coerced a birth parent or any alleged or presumed father of the child in violation of s. 48.63 (3) (b) 5. Upon a finding of coercion, the court shall dismiss the petition.

(c) Make such inquiries as satisfactorily establish that there is a factual basis for the admission.

(8) If the petition for termination of parental rights is filed by an agency enumerated in s. 48.069 (1) or (2) , the court shall order the agency to file a report with the court as provided in s. 48.425 (1) , except that, if the child is an Indian child, the court may order the agency or request the tribal child welfare department of the Indian child’s tribe to file that report.

(9)
admission.

(8) If the petition for termination of parental rights is filed by an agency enumerated in s. 48.069 (1) or (2) , the court shall order the agency to file a report with the court as provided in s. 48.425 (1) , except that, if the child is an Indian child, the court may order the agency or request the tribal child welfare department of the Indian child’s tribe to file that report.

(9)

(a) If a petition for termination of the rights of a birth parent, as defined under s. 48.432 (1) (am) , is filed by a person other than an agency enumerated under s. 48.069 (1) or (2) or if the court waives the report required under s. 48.425 , the court shall order any parent whose rights may be terminated to file with the court the information specified under s. 48.425 (1) (am) .

(b) If a birth parent does not comply with par. (a) , the court shall order any health care provider, as defined under s. 146.81 (1) (a) to (p) , known to have provided care to the birth parent or parents to provide the court with any health care records of the birth parent or parents that are relevant to the child’s medical condition or genetic history. A court order for the release of alcohol or drug abuse treatment records subject to 21 USC 1175 or 42 USC 4582 shall comply with 42 CFR 2 .

History: 1979 c. 330 ; 1981 c. 359 ; 1983 a. 326 ; 1983 a. 447 ss. 10 , 67 ; 1985 a. 176 ; 1997 a. 104 ; 2005 a. 293 ; 2005 a. 443 s. 265 ; 2007 a. 186 ; 2009 a. 28 , 94 .

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.