***THE OUTAGAMIE COUNTY INFORMAL PROBATE PROCEEDING GUIDELINES ARE PROVIDED IN THE LINK BELOW*** 

GENERAL INFORMATION 

Informal Probate is a court supervised process that allows an individual appointed as an estate's personal representative to transfer ownership of assets owned by a decedent to natural heirs or other interested parties named in a will.  This process can be completed with or without a will and is necessary for several reasons:

• To ensure that all interested persons are given proper notice;

• To ensure that all debts, taxes, and expenses of the decedent are paid; and

• To ensure all remaining assets are distributed according to the Last Will and Testament of the decedent or to the the heirs of the estate as required by Wisconsin Law

If the decedent left a will that nominates an individual to serve as personal representative, that does not authorize this individual to begin performing the duties of a personal representative; this is simply a nomination of who the decedent would like to act in this capacity.  The Court must appoint an individual as personal representative through this process before that individual has the authority to act.  Once appointed, it will become the personal representative's responsibility to handle the assets of the decedent just as any prudent person would handle their own assets.

There is a filing fee associated with informal probate matters.  This fee is determined by using date of death values of all assets the decent had an ownership interest in when they died.  If the decedent's assets are $10,000 or less, the filing fee is $20.00.  If the decedent's assets are more than $10,000.00, the fee is .2% of the gross estate, less any liens.  For example, if the decedent has $50,000.00 in total assets, the filing fee would be $100.00 ($50,000 x .002).

As personal representative, you will be required to provide adequate notice to all interested parties, all known, creditors, and publish notice of these proceedings in the newspaper (The Appleton Post-Crescent is the official Outagamie County newspaper).  You also may be liquefying assets, selling real estate, winding down a business, insuring and keeping property in good repair and collecting anything due to the decedent (i.e. interest, dividends, rent, etc.).  You will also be required to pay bills, settle any proper claims, or object to claims that are improper.  Please note that the Outagamie County Probate Office will not notify you once a claim is filed.  It will be your responsibility to monitor documents filed in your case using the Wisconsin Circuit Court Website.

Before the estate can be closed the personal representative will also be required to file a closing certificate for fiduciaries provided by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and submit a final accounting showing all of the money and assets that came into the estate between the date of death and the date of distribution of all of the assets.  All assets must be distributed according the will and/or Wisconsin Statute and it will be the personal representatives responsibility to secure receipts from any individual or entity receiving assets and file the same with the Court.

This office cannot provide you with legal advice while completing this process.  You are always encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney to address any legal questions you might have.  In addition you may utilize the resources provided below to assist you.

TIMELINES

The estate inventory must be filed within 6 months of the filing of the petition.  It is the policy of the Outagamie County Register in Probate Office that no additional time will be provided to submit this document.

The estate must be closed within 18 months of filing the Petition for Administration, unless the personal representative petitions the court for additional time in which to close the estate.  Failure to complete the estate in this time frame, without a court order extending the time to close, may result in you being removed as the personal representative of the estate.

RESOURCES AND FORMS

If you wish to complete an informal probate proceeding, please refer to the Outagamie County Informal Probate Guidelines to determine the steps that need to be taken and the documents that need to be prepared.  Once you have completed the necessary paperwork, please submit it to the Outagamie County Register in Probate Office for review.  If all documents are completed correctly, the Probate Office will contact you to set up a time to sign and notarize each document before filing the same with the Court.  Appointments with the Probate Registrar are limited to 30 minutes and are held on Tuesday afternoons from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Thursday mornings from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Due to the number of meetings that will be scheduled in a day, your failure to arrive to your appointment in a timely manner will result in your appointment being rescheduled.

All court forms necessary to complete an informal probate proceeding can be obtained from the Wisconsin Court System website.  Please be advised that the Outagamie County Register in Probate Office will not provide copies of forms to complete these matters.  The Outagamie County Register in Probate Office requests that the forms you prepare are typed; however, proper court forms filled out by hand will be accepted if the handwriting is legible.

The Wisconsin Register in Probate Association has also developed A Personal Representative's Guide To Informal Estate Administration in Wisconsin to assist you with this process.  This guide provides more detailed information on the informal probate process as well as examples of documents required to be filed with the court.