To fill out a Wisconsin last will and testament, use the statutory Wisconsin Basic Will form set out in Wis. Stat. § 853.55, complete the blanks for your beneficiaries, personal representative, and guardian for any minor children, then sign the document in the presence of two adult witnesses who receive nothing under the will. The printed form is sold by the Wisconsin State Law Library, and the full statutory text of every blank and option is available in the code itself.1Wisconsin State Law Library. Trusts and Wills If you have children under 21 and want their inheritance held in trust rather than paid outright, use the alternative form at Wis. Stat. § 853.56, the Wisconsin Basic Will with Trust.
One rule sits above all the others: you cannot change, delete, or add words to the face of the statutory form. You fill in the blanks and pick among the options the form offers. If your situation does not fit the form, the form itself tells you to see a lawyer.
Can You Make This Will
You must be at least 18 and of sound mind.2Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.01 – Capacity to Make or Revoke a Will Sound mind means you understand what you own, who your close relatives are, and how the will distributes property among them. If illness or cognitive impairment interferes with that understanding, someone with standing can challenge the will after your death.
Wisconsin does not recognize handwritten wills without witnesses, and it does not recognize oral wills. A fully electronic will signed only with digital signatures is not valid either. The document must be typed or printed on paper and signed the traditional way.
What to Gather Before You Fill Anything In
Missing or imprecise information is what creates ambiguity later, so pull these details together before you sit down with the form.
- Full legal names of every beneficiary, spelled exactly as they appear on government identification. Include any charities you want to receive property, using each organization’s full legal name.
- A working knowledge of what you own. The form sorts property into three buckets (personal and household items, specific gifts, and everything else), so you need enough of a mental inventory to place things in the right bucket.
- A first-choice and backup personal representative. This is the person who will manage your estate through probate. A nonresident can serve, but must appoint a Wisconsin resident agent to accept legal papers, and the court has discretion to deny the appointment based on residency.3Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 856.23 – Nonresident Personal Representative
- A first-choice and backup guardian for any child under 18. The court makes the final call, but your nomination carries significant weight.4Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.58 – Property Disposition Clauses
- Alternate beneficiaries. Decide who receives a gift if the first-named person dies before you. The form specifically asks about this for your residuary estate.
Know also what your will cannot touch. Joint tenancy property, life insurance with a named beneficiary, retirement accounts with a designated beneficiary, and assets in a revocable trust pass outside probate no matter what the will says. The statutory form warns you of this in its notices.5Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.55 – Wisconsin Basic Will If a beneficiary is already named on the account, updating that beneficiary designation matters more than the will.
Working Through the Form
Article 1: Declaration
This opening states that the document is your will and revokes any prior wills and codicils. You do not need to list your earlier wills by date. Signing this form cancels them.
Article 2: Disposition of Property
Section 2.1 covers personal, recreational, and household items. Choose whether these go to your spouse, to one or more named individuals, or through the residuary clause below.
Section 2.2 covers specific gifts to named people or charities. Describe each gift precisely enough that no one has to guess. “My 2019 Ford F-150” beats “my truck.” Use full legal names for every recipient.
Section 2.3 is the residuary estate, meaning everything not covered above. You pick who receives it, and you say what happens if that person predeceases you. Do not skip the alternate.
Article 3: Nominations
Here you name your personal representative and an alternate, and, if you have minor children, your guardian and alternate. You also state whether the court should require a bond from the personal representative. A bond protects the estate against mishandling but costs the estate money, and many people waive it when they trust the person named.
Signing and Witnessing
Wisconsin’s execution rules are strict, and skipping any of them can void the whole will and push your estate into intestacy.6Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.03 – Execution of Wills The requirements:
- You sign the will yourself. If you physically cannot, another person may sign in your name at your direction and in your physical presence.
- Two witnesses must each sign the will within a reasonable time after either watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge your signature or the will to them. They do not have to be present at the same time as each other.
The statute does not set an explicit minimum age for witnesses, but as a practical matter only adults should serve in the role.
Don’t Use a Beneficiary as a Witness
A will is not automatically invalid because a beneficiary witnessed it. But unless two disinterested witnesses also signed, any gift to the interested witness (or their spouse) is cut back to whatever that person would have received under intestacy, which could be nothing.7Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.07 – Interested Witnesses Pick two witnesses who inherit nothing under the will and the problem disappears.
Making the Will Self-Proving
A self-proving affidavit is optional, but it saves your estate real trouble. Without it, the probate court may have to locate your witnesses after your death to confirm the will is authentic. With it, the court accepts the will on its face.
Wisconsin allows two paths. The one-step method rolls the affidavit into the signing ceremony: you, both witnesses, and a notary gather at the same time, and everyone signs the affidavit in front of the notary right after the will is executed. The two-step method lets you return later with your witnesses to add an affidavit to a will you already signed.8Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.04 – Self-Proved Will Either way, the affidavit must be sworn before a notary under official seal. Notary fees vary by provider, so call ahead.
The one-step approach is simpler. One appointment, one notary, and the will is executed and self-proved in the same sitting.
What Your Will Cannot Do to a Spouse
Wisconsin is a marital property state. Property acquired during your marriage generally belongs equally to both spouses, and when you die, your surviving spouse automatically keeps an undivided one-half interest in each item of marital property. That half is not part of your probate estate, and your will cannot give it away.9Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 861.01 – Ownership of Marital Property at Death
Your will controls your half of marital property plus any individual property you own. A surviving spouse who feels shortchanged can also elect to claim up to 50 percent of the augmented deferred marital property estate, a statutory calculation that reaches back into certain lifetime transfers.10Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 861.02 – Deferred Marital Property Elective Share Amount You cannot fully disinherit a spouse with a will alone. That takes legal counsel and, likely, a marital property agreement.
Storing the Will
Keep the signed original in a fireproof safe, a bank safe-deposit box, or another secure spot. Tell your personal representative where it is, and consider giving them a copy. Some people leave a copy with an attorney. The probate court needs the original; a photocopy alone raises authentication problems, especially if the will is not self-proved. Bank policies vary on whether a safe-deposit box is sealed at death, and if yours is, your personal representative may need a court order to open it, so weigh that against the security a box gives you.
Changing or Revoking It Later
Marriages, divorces, births, deaths, and new property all tend to make an existing will stale. Wisconsin recognizes two ways to revoke a will.11Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.11 – Revocation of Wills
- Sign a new will. If it completely disposes of your estate, it is presumed to replace the old one entirely. If it disposes of your estate only in part, it is presumed to supplement the old will, revoking only the parts that conflict. The new will must meet the same execution formalities as the original.
- Destroy the will physically, meaning burning, tearing, canceling, or otherwise destroying it with the intent to revoke. Someone else may do the destroying, but only in your conscious presence and at your direction.
You cannot revoke a Wisconsin will by crossing out a paragraph or scribbling in the margin. The statutory form itself warns that you may not change, delete, or add words to its face.5Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 853.55 – Wisconsin Basic Will If you want to make changes, sign a new will.