Wills and probate in Wisconsin
Key takeaway
Wisconsin wills and probate rules cover how wills are signed, proved and admitted, and how estates are administered. The rules also describe procedures for certain property to pass outside ordinary probate. This overview is for Wisconsin business owners, real estate owners, private investors and their families. It explains the state's will requirements, court proceedings and transfer procedures.
Will execution and proof
Wisconsin requires an attorney in good standing licensed by Wisconsin to supervise a will signing under its remote-witnessing provision. The supervising attorney may serve as one of the remote witnesses. Two-way audiovisual appearance can count as conscious presence when statutory conditions are met.
A remotely witnessed will signed in counterpart uses identical copies signed by the testator and each remote witness. The signed originals are delivered to the supervising attorney within a reasonable time after execution. The attorney's compliance affidavit counts as a self-proving affidavit, and Wisconsin prescribes its form.
Wisconsin permits a will to be executed, attested and made self-proved in one step through an affidavit by the testator and witnesses before an authorized officer. An already-attested will can also be made self-proved after execution through such an affidavit.
For an uncontested will, a Wisconsin court may grant probate without testimony or other evidence when the will has a compliant attestation clause or a self-proving affidavit in substantially the statutory form. A will passes no property unless proved and admitted to probate or informally admitted under chapter 865. A court may take proof and establish a will that is lost, accidentally destroyed, destroyed without consent, or otherwise missing.
Probate and informal administration
Wisconsin informal administration proceeds without continuous court supervision, but remains a circuit court proceeding with records kept as in formal proceedings. The probate registrar checks that the original will is with the court or application and that it has an attestation clause showing execution compliance or a self-proving-type affidavit.
A person holding a will, other than a person named as personal representative, must file it in the proper court or deliver it to the named personal representative within 30 days of learning of the testator's death. When a decedent apparently died intestate, an informal administration application states that the applicant made diligent inquiry and knows of no unrevoked testamentary instrument.
Wisconsin provides an affidavit procedure for property subject to administration when its gross value does not exceed $50,000, subject to statutory conditions and exceptions. A separate summary assignment procedure applies without appointing a personal representative when the estate, net of secured debts, does not exceed $50,000 and cannot be summarily settled under section 867.01.
Common questions
Does Wisconsin informal administration take place outside court?
No.
Can Wisconsin real estate pass by a transfer-on-death designation?
Yes. Wisconsin permits a real-property transfer-on-death designation, but it is ineffective unless the document and recording fees are submitted to the county register of deeds before the sole owner's or last surviving owner's death. Ownership changes at death and remains subject to liens or encumbrances.