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Wisconsin County
Waupaca County, Wisconsin
Chain O' Lakes and Iola Old Car Show - from the Chain O' Lakes (the series of 22 interconnected glacial lakes near Waupaca creates one of central Wisconsin's premier resort and recreation destinations, with clear spring-fed waters, boat tours, and lakeside cottages that have drawn summer visitors for generations) to the Iola Old Car Show (held annually in Iola, the show is one of the largest antique and classic car gatherings in the United States, drawing hundreds of thousands of car enthusiasts from across the country to rural Waupaca County each July in a celebration of American automotive heritage).
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Office: Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office / Emergency Management – Waupaca, WI 54981
Services: The Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol, a DNR-subsidized program, patrols 30 nautical miles of the Wolf River, the Chain O’ Lakes, and 126 lakes covering about 6,449 acres, providing boating enforcement, emergency response, and search and rescue.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: WI-49, WI-54, and WI-22 serve Waupaca, the county seat, in central Wisconsin
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Waupaca County Planning and Zoning Office – 811 Harding St., Waupaca, WI 54981 | (715) 258-6255 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4 PM
Services: Land use permits (required for all structures) countywide, except in the Townships of Dupont, Fremont, and Harrison, which issue their own non-shoreland land use permits; building permits are issued by each Township/City/Village’s own building inspector; a fire number/property address from the Land Information Office, (715) 258-6496, is required before permitting.
Notes: The county warns residents about phishing emails impersonating Planning and Zoning staff demanding wire-transfer payment – legitimate county correspondence only comes from @co.waupaca.wi.us addresses and never demands wire transfers.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Waupaca County Veterans Service Office – Waupaca, WI 54981
Notes: The Wisconsin Veterans Home, one of the state’s residential veterans care facilities, is located in the King/Chain O’ Lakes area of the county.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Waupaca Free Public Library – 321 S. Main St., Waupaca, WI 54981
Services: A historic 1913-14 Carnegie library in English Tudor Revival/Arts and Crafts style, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Waupaca County is genuinely home to the Chain O’ Lakes, a series of 22 interconnected glacial lakes near the community of King that has drawn tourists for well over a century – the Menominee name for the chain is Kūwicīqsow-Nepēhsaeh. The lakes support extensive boating, canoeing, and kayaking, patrolled seasonally by the Sheriff’s Water Patrol. Hartman Creek State Park and the Crystal River offer additional paddling and camping. Waupaca itself sits on land that once held 72 earthwork mounds built by Native American mound-building peoples prior to European settlement, and the city’s name derives from the Menominee word Wāpahkoh, meaning “Place of Tomorrow Seen Clearly.” The city was home for over 10,000 years to Menominee people who occupied roughly 10 million acres including the Waupaca and Chain O’ Lakes area
Notes: The Waupaca Chain O’ Lakes – 22 genuinely interconnected glacial lakes with deep Menominee heritage – is a well-documented, distinctive natural feature of the county.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Waupaca County GIS Map – accessible via waupacacounty-wi.gov/departments/planning_and_zoning, including a floodplain viewer and property search tool
Parcel Search: Waupaca County Assessor – 811 Harding St., Waupaca, WI 54981
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Waupaca County Land Information Office, (715) 258-6496
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Humane Society of Waupaca County – PO Box 145, Waupaca, WI 54981 | waupacahumane.org
Services: A nonprofit shelter serving Waupaca County and surrounding communities (Clintonville, Marion, Manawa, New London, Iola, Scandinavia, Ogdensburg); offers adoption, a low-cost spay/neuter “No More Litters” program for low-income residents, and behavioral/training phone consultations.
Notes: Wolf River and Chain O’ Lakes watershed and water quality management, plus non-metallic mining reclamation ordinances, are significant local environmental focus areas; contact your specific municipality for refuse and recycling program details.
NOTES
The Waupaca Chain O’ Lakes – 22 genuinely interconnected glacial lakes with deep Menominee heritage – is a well-documented, distinctive natural feature of the county. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Waupaca County
Waupaca County is central Wisconsin’s Chain O’ Lakes resort and world-class car show county – the spring-fed glacial lake chain anchors a recreation and tourism economy while the Iola Old Car Show brings one of America’s largest automotive gatherings to rural central Wisconsin each summer.
Waupaca (the county seat, population ~6,100) is Waupaca County’s governmental hub and Chain O’ Lakes gateway, with Clintonville and Iola providing additional commercial centers across the county.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Waupaca County Assessor at 811 Harding Street, Waupaca, WI 54981, phone 715-258-6200. WI assessed at fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Waupaca County Circuit Court at 811 Harding Street, Waupaca, WI 54981, phone 715-258-6429, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
811 Harding St, Waupaca, WI 54981
(715) 258-6200
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Waupaca County Register in Probate, Waupaca (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Waupaca County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Waupaca County Register in Probate 811 Harding Street, Waupaca, WI 54981 (715) 258-6429
Waupaca County is in Central Wisconsin, home to the Chain O’Lakes recreational area, county seat Waupaca. Wisconsin has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code and has NO separate probate court – probate is handled by the CIRCUIT COURT (Probate Division) for the county where the decedent lived, administered day-to-day by that county’s REGISTER IN PROBATE. Wisconsin runs two main tracks: FORMAL administration, supervised directly by a circuit court judge, and INFORMAL administration, supervised by the Register in Probate without continuous judicial oversight. Informal administration is the default path for most straightforward estates.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Wisconsin Statutes Chapters 851 through 882 govern probate. Wisconsin is also a MARITAL PROPERTY state (similar to community property) – under the Wisconsin Marital Property Act, most assets acquired during marriage are co-owned by both spouses, so a surviving spouse may already own half of all marital property outright; only the decedent’s half passes through the estate.
Transfer by Affidavit (Wis. Stat. §867.03) – available when the decedent’s ENTIRE probate estate (personal property only; real estate is not covered by this shortcut) has a gross value of $50,000 or less. Available 30 days after death to an heir, a trustee of a revocable trust, a beneficiary named in the will, or a guardian of the decedent.
Summary Settlement (Wis. Stat. §867.01) – geared toward estates of $50,000 or less where there is a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or minor children, or where the estate would otherwise be absorbed by allowances and expenses.
Summary Assignment – another shortcut for estates too small to pay debts in full.
Formal or Informal Administration – required for larger or more complex estates. Begins with a Petition for Administration (Form PR-1801) filed with the county Register in Probate to admit the will (if any) and appoint a personal representative.
Step 2: filing for administration
File a Petition for Administration (Form PR-1801) with the Waupaca County Register in Probate.
Mail notice of the hearing to all heirs, beneficiaries, and interested parties at least 20 days before the hearing; publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for three successive weeks.
Once appointed, the personal representative inventories assets, and the court (for formal administration) or Register in Probate (for informal) sets a creditor claims deadline – generally 3 to 4 months from the date of the court’s order, with first publication of that notice required within 15 days of the order.
The personal representative pays valid debts and expenses, then distributes remaining assets to heirs/beneficiaries.
File a final accounting with the Circuit Court (Probate) showing all assets received, debts paid, and distributions made; once approved, the estate is closed.
Wisconsin’s probate filing fee statewide is generally 0.2% of inventory value, minimum $20.
What it costs
Filing fee: approximately 0.2% of the estate’s inventory value, minimum $20.
Personal representative compensation: presumptive statutory rate of 2% of inventory value (Wis. Stat. §857.05), though the will or the parties can agree to a different amount.
Publication costs, and (for real estate transfers under the small-estate process) an Affidavit of Heirship and Affidavit of Service, notarized and filed with the court.
Typical timeline: simple estates 6-12 months; complex or contested estates 18 months or longer.
Wisconsin does NOT impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, with a $15,000,000 per-person exemption for 2026 – meaning the vast majority of Wisconsin estates owe nothing.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
811 Harding St, Waupaca, WI 54981
(715) 258-4466
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(715) 258-6200
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
Waupaca County Health Department, 811 Harding St, Waupaca, WI 54981
(715) 258-6300
Human Services
Waupaca County Human Services, 811 Harding St, Waupaca, WI 54981
(715) 258-6300
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Waupaca County Public Health – Waupaca, WI 54981
Hospital: ThedaCare Medical Center-Waupaca – Waupaca, WI, serves the county.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Waupaca
Population: 52,500
Established: 1851
Tier: 2
Public Records
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