An optional final hearing by affidavit for the dissolution of a marriage (suggested as remedial legislation by the Office of the Director of State Courts), the official text

2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-5521/1
MED:ajk

2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 938
January 28, 2026 - Introduced by Law Revision Committee. Referred to Committee on Rules.

An Act to amend 767.235 (1) (b) 4. L. of the statutes; relating to: an optional final hearing by affidavit for the dissolution of a marriage (suggested as remedial legislation by the Office of the Director of State Courts).

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
2025 Wisconsin Act 40 established a process whereby a court may enter a judgment of divorce or legal separation based on an affidavit signed by each party to the action (final hearing by affidavit). For a final hearing by affidavit to be granted, the parties to the divorce or legal separation action must submit a signed affidavit, which must meet a number of requirements, including stating whether the parties were involved in any pending or completed court cases in any jurisdiction where interspousal battery or domestic abuse are indicated.
This bill inserts the correct cross-reference to domestic abuse in the Act 40 provision and updates cross-references to battery to reconcile the provision with 2025 Wisconsin Act 24, which revised and recodified the battery statutes.
For further information, see the Notes provided by the Law Revision Committee of the Joint Legislative Council.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
Law Revision Committee prefatory note: This bill is a remedial legislation proposal, requested by the Office of the Director of State Courts and introduced by the Law Revision Committee under s. 13.83 (1) (c) 4. and 5., stats. After careful consideration of the various provisions of the bill, the Law Revision Committee has determined that this bill makes minor substantive changes in the statutes, and that these changes are desirable as a matter of public policy.

Section 1. 767.235 (1) (b) 4. L. of the statutes, as created by 2025 Wisconsin Act 40, is amended to read:
767.235 (1) (b) 4. L. The affidavit states whether the parties were involved in any pending or completed court cases in any jurisdiction where interspousal battery or domestic abuse, as defined in s. 813.122 (1) (a) 813.12 (1) (am), are indicated, including petitions under s. 813.12, 813.122, or 813.125, or criminal cases alleging conduct under s. 940.60 or 940.61 (1) or s. 940.19, 2023 stats., or s. 940.20 (1m), 2023 stats., or their substantial equivalents in state, tribal, or federal court.
Note: Section 1 modifies a provision created in 2025 Wisconsin Act 40 to insert the correct cross-reference to the definition of “domestic abuse” and correct cross-references to statutes that were recodified by 2025 Wisconsin Act 24.
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