Next of Kin Law, 2025 Wisconsin Act 115: What It Means for Consumers

Starting June 1, 2026, Wisconsin has a new “Next of Kin” law, 2025 Wisconsin Act 115, that created a new legal decision-maker and an alternative route for admission to an assisted living community or nursing home for certain hospital patients who cannot make their own decisions and lack an advance directive or legal decision maker.

Why is this Important?

Imagine your loved one has a stroke, is hospitalized, and can no longer make their own medical decisions. They never completed a Health Care Power of Attorney, and now they need to be discharged to a Wisconsin nursing home.

Before Wisconsin’s Next of Kin law, families in this situation often had to go through the court process to appoint a guardian before the person could leave the hospital and transition to the next level of care. That process could delay discharge and add stress during an already difficult time. The Next of Kin law allows hospitals, in certain situations, to work with an available close family member to make healthcare decisions without waiting for guardianship.

Who can act as a patient’s representative?

An Individual, in the following order of priority, may act as a patient’s representative and consent to an incapacitated individual’s admission directly from a hospital inpatient unit to a nursing home or community based residential facility:

1. The spouse or domestic partner of an incapacitated individual.
2. An adult son or daughter of an incapacitated individual.
3. A parent of an incapacitated individual.
4. An adult brother or sister of the incapacitated individual.
5. A grandparent of the incapacitated individual.
6. An adult grandchild of the incapacitated individual.
7. An adult close friend of the incapacitated individual.

What can they do?

Under the next of kin law, an assigned family member may be able to make certain healthcare decisions, approve transfer from the hospital to a nursing home or assisted living community, and manage certain paperwork related to an affected individual’s care.

2025 Wisconsin Act 115 is designed to help families avoid unnecessary delays when a loved one can't speak for themselves. It doesn't replace guardianship or advance directives, but it can make it easier to get someone from the hospital to the right level of care without a lengthy court process.