Wisconsin transfer on death designation
A transfer on death designation lets you name who inherits your Wisconsin property without probate, while you keep full control, including the power to sell or mortgage it without anyone's signature. Here is exactly what Wisconsin requires, what it costs, and where to file it.
- Recording office
- Register of Deeds
- Witnesses
- Notary only
- Transfer tax
- None when recorded
- First-page margin
- 3.5″ top
- Recording fee
- $30 per document
- E-recording
- Approved submitters
What a transfer on death designation does in Wisconsin
A transfer-on-death deed (a beneficiary deed in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado and Missouri) names the person who should receive your real estate when you die. You record it now, but it transfers nothing until death: you keep full ownership, you can sell or mortgage the property, and you can revoke the deed at any time without your beneficiary's consent. When you die, the property passes outside probate. Your beneficiaries then record the documents your state requires to show them as the owners; in a few states that filing has a deadline, or is what completes the transfer.
In Wisconsin the governing statute is Wis. Stat. § 705.15. Wisconsin has no statutory TOD deed form. Under Wis. Stat. § 705.15 you designate a TOD beneficiary in a recorded document that names the owner and the beneficiary, states that the transfer takes effect only on the owner's death, and, for marital property, is signed by both spouses. Deedly prepares that document.
The Wisconsin law behind this deed
Start with Wis. Stat. § 705.15 if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.
| What it governs | Citation |
|---|---|
| Transfer on death designations specifically | Wis. Stat. § 705.15 |
| Conveyances generally | Wis. Stat. § 706.02 |
| Recording with the Register of Deeds | Wis. Stat. § 706.05 |
| Homestead and spousal consent | Wis. Stat. §§ 706.02(1)(f), 706.01(7) |
| Transfer tax | Wis. Stat. § 77.22 |
When Wisconsin homeowners use a transfer on death designation
- Leave a house to your children without probate
- Keep real estate out of a will contest
- Get probate avoidance without paying for a full living trust
- Name a backup beneficiary in case your first choice dies first
- Revoke or change an earlier beneficiary designation
What Wisconsin requires on the deed
These are the execution and formatting rules registers of deeds enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.
| Requirement | What Wisconsin says |
|---|---|
| Recording office | Register of Deeds |
| Notarization | Required. Each signer must appear before the notary and acknowledge the signature. Signing in front of the notary is the safest practice. |
| Witnesses | None required. A notarial acknowledgment is enough. |
| Legal description | Required, copied exactly from the prior recorded deed. A street address is not sufficient. |
| Grantee's address | Recommended. |
| Return address | Include a 'when recorded, return to' block so the original comes back to you. Deedly always prints one. |
| Preparer statement | Required. The deed must name who drafted it. |
| Prior deed reference | Not required, though it keeps the chain of title clean. |
| Page setup | 8.5 × 11 in, 3.5-inch clear space at the top of page one, 0.5-inch margins elsewhere, nothing under 10pt. This is the profile Deedly applies. |
| Accompanying form | None when you record it. |
| Timing | Must be recorded before the owner's death. Recording it afterwards has no effect. |
If you are married, your spouse signs too
If you are married, your spouse must also sign this designation. Wisconsin presumes property of spouses is marital property, and a TOD designation of marital property is valid only if both spouses sign it (Wis. Stat. § 705.15(2)(a)4). This applies whether or not the property is your homestead. Your spouse's signature is not needed only if the property is your individual property, for example property you owned before your marriage or inherited. If you are not sure, have your spouse sign. Deedly prints a signature line and acknowledgment for your spouse at no extra cost. If you own the property with others as joint tenants, all of you sign the designation (Wis. Stat. § 705.15(2)(b)), and only all of you who are then living can revoke it, as with a designation of survivorship marital property (§ 705.15(3)(b)2). A tenant in common can designate a beneficiary for their own share alone (§ 705.15(1m)(b)).
How to complete and record it in Wisconsin
- Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Register of Deeds can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
- Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
- Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3.5-inch first-page margin used for Wisconsin deeds.
- Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
- Record it with the Register of DeedsFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
- Tell your beneficiaries where it isAfter your death, your beneficiary records a Termination of Decedent's Interest form (available from the Register of Deeds) with a transfer return claiming exemption 77.25(11m) and giving this designation's recorded document number. The $30 recording fee applies; no transfer fee is due (Wis. Stat. §§ 705.15(5), 867.046(2)).
What it costs in Wisconsin
| Cost | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Recording fee | $30 per document |
| Transfer tax | None when recorded |
| Notary | Wisconsin caps a notary's fee for acknowledging a deed at $5 per document (Wis. Stat. § 140.02(9)(e)), unless the Department of Financial Institutions sets a different fee by rule. |
| Deedly | $49, one time (launch price, regular $69) |
| Attorney (for comparison) | $150–$700 for the same statutory document |
No transfer fee and no transfer return. A TOD designation is exempt from both (Wis. Stat. §§ 77.25(10m), 77.255). The exemption statement printed on your document tells the Register of Deeds this.
Where to record it in Wisconsin
Wisconsin deeds are recorded with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 72 counties in Wisconsin.
Many Wisconsin recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.
Recording offices we cover in Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha, Brown, Racine, Outagamie, Winnebago, Kenosha, Washington. See all Wisconsin recording offices.
What a transfer on death designation does NOT do
Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.
- Only 34 states plus DC recognize it. Recording one in a state that does not accept it accomplishes nothing.
- It does not clear the mortgage. Your beneficiary takes the property subject to any loan, lien, or judgment against it.
- It doesn't protect the property from your creditors, and in many states it doesn't shield the property from Medicaid estate recovery.
- The beneficiary receives no ownership interest until you die. They cannot be added as a co-owner this way.
- If a beneficiary dies before you, what happens to their share depends on state law: in some states it passes to the other beneficiaries or to the beneficiary's descendants, in others it fails. Naming an alternate, where your state's form allows one, avoids the question.
Quirks of Wisconsin law that catch people out
- Before recording, complete Wisconsin's online Real Estate Transfer Return (RETR) at revenue.wi.gov. It must be filed electronically unless the Department of Revenue grants a hardship waiver (Wis. Stat. § 77.22(2)). Bring or mail the printed receipt with the deed and the fee. Every grantor, grantee and parcel on the deed must appear on the receipt, and the Register of Deeds writes the fee or exemption on the deed. A transfer on death designation needs no return (Wis. Stat. § 77.255).
- Leave a blank space of at least 3 by 3 inches in the upper right corner of page one, below a 0.5-inch top margin, and keep the top 0.5 inch of every page blank (Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2m)(a)3, 14). Deedly lays out every Wisconsin document this way.
- The document must show the name of whoever drafted it (Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2m)(a)16). Deedly prints it at the top of page one.
- The parcel identification number (tax key) is required in Milwaukee County and in counties that require it by ordinance (Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2m)(a)5, (7)). Copy it from your tax bill. Deedly prints a line for it under the return address.
$49, one time. Your finished deed appears in full before you pay, with Wisconsin's witness rules, margins, and recording instructions already applied.
Common questions
No. Wisconsin has no requirement that an attorney prepare a deed. What matters is the correct statutory language, an accurate legal description, proper notarization, and recording with the Register of Deeds. Deedly produces all of that for $49, versus roughly $150–$700 for an attorney to draft the same document. If ownership is disputed, the current owner has died without probate, or the transfer is tax-sensitive, use an attorney.
Expect $30 per document. No transfer fee and no transfer return. A TOD designation is exempt from both (Wis. Stat. §§ 77.25(10m), 77.255). The exemption statement printed on your document tells the Register of Deeds this. Set by state law, whatever the number of pages (Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2)(ag)).
No. Wisconsin requires only that the grantor's signature be acknowledged before a notary public. Instead of a notary's acknowledgment, a member in good standing of the State Bar of Wisconsin may authenticate the signatures (Wis. Stat. §§ 706.05(2)(b), 706.06(2)).
With the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is located, not where you live, and not where the buyer lives. Wisconsin has 72 counties. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies.
Yes. Transfer on death designations are revocable during your lifetime. You can record a revocation, record a new one naming different beneficiaries, or simply sell the property. You don't need your beneficiary's permission for any of it.
Yes, for this property. On your death the property passes directly to the people you named, outside probate. They then record proof of your death with the Register of Deeds so the public record shows the change. It doesn't avoid probate for anything else you own, it doesn't clear the mortgage, and it doesn't protect the property from your creditors.
Usually, yes. If you are married, your spouse must also sign this designation. Wisconsin presumes property of spouses is marital property, and a TOD designation of marital property is valid only if both spouses sign it (Wis. Stat. § 705.15(2)(a)4). This applies whether or not the property is your homestead. Your spouse's signature is not needed only if the property is your individual property, for example property you owned before your marriage or inherited. If you are not sure, have your spouse sign. Deedly prints a signature line and acknowledgment for your spouse whenever you are married.
Keep reading
- Wisconsin quitclaim deedTransfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title.
- Wisconsin general warranty deedTransfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows.
- Wisconsin special warranty deedTransfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it.
- Wisconsin life estate deedYou keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you.
- All deed rules for WisconsinRecording offices, transfer tax, witness rules, and fees.
- Wisconsin recording officesWhere to file in each county.
Deedly is not a law firm
Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.