Wisconsin Small Estate Affidavit

Three tracks, one figure, three bases

Every Wisconsin track below uses $50,000, and that shared figure is the trap. The affidavit track tests gross value. The two court tracks test value less debts secured by estate property. The survivor condition belongs to one court track only. The affidavit track has no survivor condition. Keep each test, each base, and each condition inside its own track.

Track 1: transfer by affidavit, section 867.03

Except as in subsection (1h), and subject to subsections (1j) and (1p), when a decedent leaves property subject to administration in Wisconsin not exceeding $50,000 in gross value, any heir of the decedent, trustee of a revocable trust created by the decedent, person named in the will to act as personal representative, or person who was guardian of the decedent at the time of death may collect money due to the decedent, receive the decedent's property, and have evidence of interest, obligation to, or right of the decedent transferred to the person making the affidavit. The affidavit must show a description of and the value of the property to be transferred, the total value of the decedent's property subject to administration in Wisconsin at the date of death, and whether the decedent or the decedent's spouse ever received services under a listed benefit program, including medical assistance and the other programs named in subsection (1g)(c). Proof of prior mailed notice under subsection (1m) must be provided if applicable.

No waiting period is stated in subsection (1g) itself, and no court filing is stated there. The affidavit goes to the person owing the money, having custody of the property, or acting as registrar or transfer agent. Descriptions of the affidavit as filed with a court are wrong, except for the real-property recording rule below.

Two 30-day rules sit inside this track, and each is narrow. First, the will-named personal representative hold in subsection (1j): a recipient of an affidavit from a will-named personal representative who is not also an heir, trustee, or guardian may not transfer any money, property, or evidence until 30 days after the day the affidavit is received. If during that period the recipient receives a subsection (1g) affidavit for the same decedent from another person, the recipient may not transfer anything under the section unless ordered to do so by a court. The release of liability in subsection (2) does not apply to a transfer where subsection (1j) was not complied with. Second, the real-property notice in subsection (1p): if the affidavit describes an interest in or lien on real property, at least 30 days before submitting the affidavit to a register of deeds, the heir, trustee, or former guardian shall provide the decedent's heirs a copy of the affidavit and notice of intent to record it in each county where the real property is located, by certified mail or personal service.

A real-property exception in subsection (1h) limits one class of filer. A person named in the will as personal representative may not receive any real property by affidavit, nor have evidence of interest, obligation to, or right in real property transferred by affidavit, unless the person is also an heir, a trustee of a revocable trust created by the decedent, or a person who was guardian at death.

Notice to the Department of Health Services is required in subsection (1m) whenever the person making the affidavit intends a transfer by affidavit and the decedent or spouse ever received a listed benefit. The notice must include the affidavit information, by certified mail, return receipt requested. A person whose affidavit states such receipt shall attach proof of mail delivery showing the delivery date. The current text states a delivery date only. It states no 10-day floor. The 10-day floor lives in the 2007 text and in form reproductions, and it must never be carried as current statute.

On furnishing the affidavit with attached proof of mail delivery if required, the transferor is released from liability to the same extent as if the transfer had been made to a personal representative, except as provided in subsection (1j) and subject to subsection (1h). By accepting property, the person making the affidavit assumes a duty to apply it to obligations according to the priorities in section 859.25 and to distribute any balance to persons designated in the appropriate governing instrument, or if none, per intestate succession under chapter 852, subject to subsection (2g)(b). Property transferred is subject to the Department's right to recover amounts equal to recoverable medical assistance, aid, or long-term community support services paid on behalf of the decedent or spouse, and on request the person making the affidavit shall provide the Department information about property distributed and its recipients. An heir, will-named personal representative, or former guardian may publish notice to creditors in the same manner and with the same effect as a trustee under section 701.0508. Administration under section 856.07 or chapter 865 is not barred.

Recording under subsection (2m) is real-property-only. If the affidavit describes an interest in or lien on real property, a certified copy or duplicate original, with proof of the subsection (1p) notice at least 30 days before submission and proof of subsection (1m) notice if applicable, shall be submitted for recording in the office of the register of deeds in each county where the real property is located. Recording constitutes the transfer of the evidence of the interest or lien. A purchaser or lender in good faith, for value, without actual notice that the transfer was improper, takes title free of estate claims and incurs no personal liability, with no duty to inquire whether the transfer was proper.

Track 2: summary settlement, section 867.01

The court shall summarily settle without appointing a personal representative in either of two cases. In case (a), the estate, less the amount of debts for which any property in the estate is security, does not exceed in value the costs, expenses, allowances, and claims under section 859.25(1)(a) to (g). In case (b), the estate, less secured debts, does not exceed $50,000 in value and the decedent is survived by a spouse or domestic partner, or one or more minor children, or both. The survivor condition belongs to case (b) only. An estate whose administration has commenced under chapter 856 may be terminated under section 867.01 at any time it meets the section.

A person with standing to petition for administration under section 856.07 may petition. Petition contents include a detailed statement of all property subject to administration including any encumbrance, lien, or other charge on each item; names and post-office addresses of all interested persons so far as known or reasonably ascertainable, flagging minors and disability and guardians; and the benefits-receipt question. One petition item, item (am)1., was not visible in the rendering read and is a first-open; it is not guessed here. A special administrator may be appointed if the court deems it necessary. Before any order, the court may require a bond of the petitioner in an amount the court deems sufficient, conditioned to indemnify any person aggrieved.

Notice follows subsection (3)(d). The court may hear the matter without notice or order notice under section 879.03. If the decedent or spouse received a listed benefit, the petitioner shall give notice by certified mail to the Department of Health Services as soon as practicable after filing. If satisfied the estate may be settled under the section, after 30 days have elapsed since Department notice under subsection (d) if required, the court shall assign the property to the persons entitled to it. If settled under case (b), any property not otherwise assigned shall be assigned to the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner, or minor children, or both, as an allowance under section 861.31. The court orders payment, delivery, and transfer of interests in real estate, stocks or bonds, title of a licensed motor vehicle, or any other property. Recording is required for orders relating to real property or secured debts. The court may order the petitioner to inform known unsatisfied creditors of the final disposition. The transferor is released on payment, delivery, transfer, or issuance per the order.

Track 3: summary assignment, section 867.02

The court shall summarily assign without appointing a personal representative if the estate, less secured debts, does not exceed $50,000 in value and the estate cannot be summarily settled under section 867.01. The "cannot be settled" condition is definitional: assignment is the track where settlement is unavailable. An estate under chapter 856 administration or a section 867.01 summary settlement may be terminated under section 867.02 at any time it meets the section.

Standing follows section 856.07. The petition states that the estate does not exceed $50,000 and cannot be summarily settled, whether after reasonable diligence the petitioner located the will, a detailed statement of property with encumbrances, liens, and charges, names and addresses of all known creditors and amounts claimed, names and addresses of interested persons, and the benefits-receipt question. The property and creditor statements may be omitted from the petition and included in an affidavit filed with the court before the order is signed. The will shall be filed with the petition. Bond is discretionary for the petitioner and, before assigning property, for assignees.

Notice is heavier than in settlement. The petitioner shall give certified-mail notice to the Department of Health Services as soon as practicable after filing and publish notice to creditors as a class 1 notice under chapter 985 in a newspaper published in the county. If satisfied, after filing, proof of the will, and after 30 days since publication, the court shall decide all claims and assign the property to creditors and entitled persons, subject to unknown rights as limited in subsection (4). Recording is required, and the petitioner shall mail or deliver a copy of the order to all interested persons whose post-office address is known or reasonably ascertainable.

Time limits in subsection (4) are strict. No creditor action more than three months after publication. No interested-person action more than three months after the order copy was mailed or delivered to that person, or, if the name and address could not be ascertained with reasonable diligence, more than three months after the order copy was mailed or delivered to any interested person. The three-month limit does not bar reconsideration for constructive fraud in procurement, as stated in the cited case. A creditor or interested person not assigned a share may recover against assignees or their bondsmen whose shares were increased thereby, up to the value assigned at assignment time.

The department recovery affidavit, section 867.035

Section 867.035 is a department-side instrument, not a family affidavit. It was read in a 2007 edition, so its text here is edition-tiered and a current-edition re-read is owed. Subject to subsection (bm), the Department of Health Services may collect from the property of a decedent, including funds held immediately before death in a joint account or a payable-on-death account, by affidavit or by lien, an amount equal to recoverable medical assistance, long-term community support services, family care benefit, or aid paid on behalf of the decedent or spouse, if all four conditions hold: no person files a petition for administration or summary settlement or assignment within 20 days of death; the decedent died after September 30, 1991; the decedent is not survived by a spouse, a child under age 21, or a disabled child as defined in the cited section; and the value of the property subject to administration in Wisconsin left by the decedent, after payment of burial costs, does not exceed the amount under section 867.03(1g). The Department shall reduce recovery by up to the amount specified in section 861.33(2) if necessary to allow heirs or will beneficiaries to retain listed personal property. One item in that reduction rule was not visible in the rendering and is not guessed here. The Department shall promulgate undue-hardship standards and shall waive the section where its application would work undue hardship in a particular case. A person with a valid higher-priority claim who demands payment in writing within one year of transmittal shall be paid the lesser of the property value collected or the claim amount.

Vehicles: a separate lane

The vehicle lane rests on secondary and snippet corroboration, and the current edition of section 342.17 is a first-open. On that tier, section 342.17(4)(b) requires the Department to transfer a decedent's interest in any vehicle to the surviving spouse or domestic partner under chapter 770 on receipt of the title executed by the spouse or domestic partner and a statement stating the date of death, the approximate value and description of the vehicle, and that the spouse or domestic partner is personally liable for the decedent's debts and charges to the extent of the value of the vehicle, subject to section 859.25. Except as in the subdivision that lifts the limit, the paragraph is limited to no more than five vehicles titled in Wisconsin less than 20 years old at transfer, with no limit on vehicles 20 or more years old. The limit is lifted if the spouse or domestic partner proceeds under section 867.03(1g) and the total value of property subject to administration in Wisconsin including the vehicles does not exceed $50,000. Non-spouse heirs do not use this paragraph. Form MV2300 and any title-transfer fee figures were not opened, and conflicting secondary fee figures are carried nowhere in this guide.

Forms and fees: no fee figure is stated

Form PR-1831, Transfer by Affidavit ($50,000 and under), was read only in vendor reproductions. Its instruction that a duplicate goes by certified mail to the Estate Recovery Program with the delivery date at least 10 days prior conflicts with the current statute text, which states a delivery date only. This guide uses the current statute text and never carries the form's 10-day rule as statute. The current official form PDF is a first-open. Summary-settlement form names PR-1835 and PR-1836 come from a county guideline only, and summary-assignment form numbers were not opened. No fee figure is carried for any track. The court fee history is tangled by renumbering and a 2025 amendment, and the current schedule is a first-open. The affidavit track files no petition, and any register-of-deeds recording fee is likewise unopened.

For small-estate procedures in other states, see the Small Estate Affidavits by State directory. For the questions each state's procedure answers, see Small Estate Affidavit Questions.

Source

Sources: Wisconsin Statutes sections 867.01, 867.02, and 867.03, current-edition full texts via docs.legis.wisconsin.gov; section 867.035, 2007-edition full text; section 342.17(4)(b) via Justia 2017 republication plus docs.legis snippets; Form PR-1831 via vendor reproductions. Facts verified 2026-10-31. Open flags: (1) the current edition of section 867.035 was not re-read; (2) petition item 867.01(3)(am)1. and section 867.035(bm) item 1. were not visible in the renderings read; (3) the current edition of section 342.17, Form MV2300, and any title-transfer fee were not opened; (4) the current official Form PR-1831 PDF and the summary-assignment forms were not opened; (5) the current court fee schedule under sections 814.66 and 814.67 was not opened, so no fee figure is stated; (6) sections 859.25, 861.31, 861.33, 49.496, and 879.07 were not read in full.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to the Wisconsin court or a lawyer.