Wisconsin Power of Attorney for Child: Expiration and Renewal

The One-Year Default

Under Wis. Stat. § 48.979(1)(a), a Power of Attorney Delegating Parental Power (Form GF-223) defaults to a term of one year if no end date is written into the document. This is the single most common pitfall for kinship caregivers in Wisconsin: the form silently expires, and the caregiver discovers they have lost authority when a school or clinic refuses to accept it.

There is no automatic renewal. There is no grace period. When the term ends, the delegation has no legal effect.

How to Check Your Expiration Date

Look at the dates section of your GF-223. If a specific end date is written in, that is when authority expires. If no end date appears, count one year from the date the form was signed.

If you cannot find your copy of the form, ask the school or pediatrician's office for the copy they have on file — they should have scanned it at intake.

Renewal Is a New Form

There is no renewal stamp, extension filing or amendment process. To maintain continuous authority past the expiration date, the parent and caregiver must execute a brand-new GF-223 from scratch. Same signatures, same notarization (recommended), same distribution to schools and clinics.

Start the renewal process at least 60 days before expiration. This gives time to coordinate signatures — especially when a parent is incarcerated, in a treatment facility, or living in another city.

The Relative vs. Non-Relative Distinction

The one-year limit plays out differently depending on the caregiver's relationship to the child:

Relatives (grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece, step-parent — the list in § 48.02(15)): can hold a delegation longer than one year without court approval. Execute a new GF-223 with a longer term, or simply renew annually. No penalty, no court filing.

Non-relatives (family friends, neighbors, church members): cannot hold a delegation exceeding one year without prior court approval. Exceeding the one-year limit without court approval is a statutory violation carrying a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to nine months, or both.

If you are a non-relative caregiver approaching the one-year mark, either execute a new one-year GF-223 or file the form with the county circuit court's juvenile division for approval to extend. Do not let it lapse and assume nobody will notice.

What Happens When Authority Lapses

If the GF-223 expires and no new form is in place:

• Schools: the delegated powers end, but the caregiver may still handle routine interactions if the school recognizes them as the adult having control of the child. A caregiver recognized in that role may also access routine educational records under FERPA and Wis. Stat. § 118.125, so expiration alone does not establish that all school-record access ends. A current GF-223 documents the educational powers it delegates.
• Medical providers: a clinic or dentist can refuse to treat the child (outside of emergencies) because the caregiver has no current authority to consent.
• Pharmacies: prescription pickups may be refused.
• Insurance: claims processing and coverage changes may be blocked.

The gap between an expired delegation and a new one is an authority vacuum. The safest approach is to never let it happen.

Tracking Multiple Children

If a caregiver holds GF-223 forms for more than one child — and the forms were signed on different dates — each has its own expiration calendar. A delegation tracker that logs every child, execution date, expiration date and renewal deadline prevents missed expirations.

The Wisconsin School and Medical Consent Guide includes a Delegation Expiry and Renewal Tracker designed for exactly this situation — it logs each form's dates and prompts renewal 60 days before expiration.

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