Circuit court eFiling - Opting in on a guardianship case as a designated filer

Purpose: A designated filer is a non-lawyer representative who is designated to file documents for and manage guardianship (GN) cases on behalf of businesses or corporations, such as nursing homes. In order to electronically file documents on existing guardianship cases as a designated filer, you must follow the steps below to opt in.

Applicable Users: Designated filers, Corporate guardians

Prerequisites:

• If the case is a traditional paper case, it must be converted to an electronic case before filers can opt in. Contact the clerk of circuit court’s office in the appropriate county to request the case be converted from a paper case to an electronic case.
• An eCourts account is required to participate in eFiling; refer to the article Creating an eCourts account for additional information.
• You must be added to the case as the designated filer for the applicable party before opting in. Contact the clerk of circuit court’s office for assistance.

Steps:

1. Visit the eFiling website at https://efiling.wicourts.gov/ and log in. For more information, see the article Logging into Wisconsin circuit court eFiling.
2. Select the opt in link from the main navigation or the Opt in as an electronic party link from the bottom-left menu.
   
   An Opt in as an electronic party link is also available on the My cases page.
   
3. Select the County in which the case is filed and enter the applicable Case number. Then, select the Party that you are designated to file for and select your Email address.
   
   Note: Case numbers can be entered completely (ex. 2023GN000021) or in an abbreviated format (ex. 23GN21), but they must exclude dashes and spaces. This rule is applicable wherever you enter case numbers within the eFiling system.
4. If you need to file any additional documents, click the Yes radio button beneath "Do you need to file additional documents?" Click [Continue] to proceed to the document upload screen. For more information on uploading documents, review steps 5 and 6 of the article eFiling to an existing case.
   
5. If you do not need to file any additional documents, click [Save] to proceed or click [Save, and opt in on another case] if there are additional cases you need to opt into.
   
6. On the Ready to file page, select the checkbox next to filings you wish to submit, or select the checkbox next to a county name to submit all filings in that county. Then, select [File] or [File and Pay].
   
   Note: If you have set up a court debit account (CDA) with the circuit court you are filing in, you will have the option to choose a payment method. To learn how to set up a CDA, see the article Creating and managing a court debit account. It is your responsibility to ensure proper funds are available in the account at the time of filing.
   If paying with a credit/debit card or eCheck via the US Bank ePayment website, a transaction fee will be applied to the total.
7. On the Filings submitted page, select [Make payment with US Bank] to proceed to the US Bank ePayment website and pay associated filing fees. If fees were not assessed, the [Make payment with US Bank] button will display as [Return to main menu].
   
   Note: Once you have advanced to this page, do not close out of your browser window or take a break. Selecting [File and pay] at the bottom of the previous page initiates a connection with the US Bank ePayment website that only stays open for 10-15 minutes.
   US Bank is the vendor that processes circuit court credit card and electronic check transactions. You do not need a US Bank checking or savings account to pay for filings on the US Bank ePayment website. You can pay using a Visa card, MasterCard, or electronic check.
8. After you submit your opt-in request, it is transmitted to the courts and processed when both the request and payment (if fees were assessed) are received. An email confirming that you are an electronic notice (eNotice) party will be delivered to you. The case will be visible on the My cases page of the eFiling website where you can access filed documents and other case information.
   
   Note: Opt-in requests that have not yet been processed display with a status of Opt in pending on the My cases page.