Confidential Petition Addendum Wisconsin

What Form GF-179 Is

The Confidential Petition Addendum (Form GF-179) is a mandatory filing in every Wisconsin divorce case — joint or solo, with or without children. It captures sensitive identifying information that the court needs but keeps out of the public record.

Wisconsin court files are public documents. Anyone can walk into the clerk's office and review your divorce case file. The GF-179 exists specifically to prevent Social Security numbers and other personal identifiers from appearing in those publicly accessible records.

What It Asks For

The form collects:

• Full legal names of both spouses
• Dates of birth
• Social Security numbers for both parties
• Social Security numbers for any minor children of the marriage
• Phone numbers for both parties

The clerk retains this information as confidential. It is not available for public inspection; access is limited to the parties, their attorneys, a county child support agency, or another person authorized by law.

When to File It

File GF-179 at the same time as your petition — whether that's a Joint Petition (FA-4110V/FA-4111V) or a solo Summons and Petition (FA-4104V/FA-4108V or FA-4105V/FA-4109V). The clerk processes them together but stores the addendum separately from the public file.

If you forget to include GF-179 with your initial filing, the clerk will typically flag it and ask you to submit it before your case can proceed. Some clerks reject the filing outright until the addendum is attached. Don't treat it as optional paperwork.

Common Mistakes

Leaving Social Security fields blank. If you don't know your spouse's Social Security number, you still need to file the form — write "unknown" in that field rather than skipping the form entirely. The court may follow up, but an incomplete GF-179 is better than no GF-179.

Putting SSNs on the main petition. The petition forms (FA-4108V, FA-4110V, etc.) do not ask for Social Security numbers — that information belongs only on GF-179. If you accidentally write SSNs on the petition, ask the clerk to redact them before the file enters the public record.

Filing it electronically without a cover sheet. When eFiling through CCAP, the GF-179 should be uploaded as a confidential document. The eFiling system has a classification option for confidential filings — select it so the document is routed to the confidential portion of the case file rather than the public docket.

Why It Matters

Identity theft from court records is a real problem. Divorce cases contain enough personal information — full names, addresses, dates of birth, financial accounts — to be valuable to bad actors. The GF-179 keeps the most sensitive identifiers (Social Security numbers) out of the publicly searchable file.

For cases involving domestic violence or safety concerns, this separation is especially important. Even the public portions of a divorce file can reveal addresses and employer information, but at minimum the GF-179 ensures Social Security numbers stay confidential.

The Wisconsin Divorce Filing Process Guide includes GF-179 in its filing checklist and walks you through every form in the correct order — so nothing gets filed in the wrong place or left out of your initial submission.

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