Chapter 766, PROPERTY RIGHTS OF MARRIED PERSONS; MARITAL PROPERTY

766.001 Liberal construction; intent. (1) This chapter is remedial in nature and shall be liberally construed, consistent with s. 766.96. (2) It is the intent of the legislature that marital property is a form of community property. History: 1983 a. 186; 1985 a. 37. This chapter,…

766.01 Definitions. In this chapter: (1) “Acquiring” property includes reducing indebtedness on encumbered property and obtaining a lien on or security interest in property. (2) “Appreciation” means a realized or unrealized increase in the value of property. (2m) (a) Except as pr…

766.03 Applicability. (1) Except as provided in sub. (4) and ss. 766.58 (5), (11) and (12) and 766.585, this chapter first applies to spouses upon their determination date. (2) After this chapter first applies to spouses, it continues to apply to spouses during marriage. Section …

766.15 Responsibility between spouses. (1) Each spouse shall act in good faith with respect to the other spouse in matters involving marital property or other property of the other spouse. This obligation may not be varied by a marital property agreement. (2) Management and contr…

766.17 Variation by marital property agreement. (1) Except as provided in ss. 766.15, 766.55 (4m), 766.57 (3) and 766.58 (2), a marital property agreement may vary the effect of this chapter. (2) Section 859.18 (6) governs the effect of a marital property agreement upon property …

766.31 Classification of property of spouses. (1) GENERAL. All property of spouses is marital property except that which is classified otherwise by this chapter and that which is described in sub. (8). (2) PRESUMPTION. All property of spouses is presumed to be marital property. (…

766.51 Management and control of property of spouses. (1) A spouse acting alone may manage and control: (a) That spouse’s property that is not marital property. (am) Except as provided in subs. (2) and (3), marital property held in that spouse’s name alone or not held in the name…

766.53 Gifts of marital property to 3rd persons. A spouse acting alone may give to a 3rd person marital property that the spouse has the right to manage and control only if the value of the marital property given to the 3rd person does not aggregate more than either $1,000 in a c…

766.55 Obligations of spouses. (1) An obligation incurred by a spouse during marriage, including one attributable to an act or omission during marriage, is presumed to be incurred in the interest of the marriage or the family. A statement separately signed by the obligated or inc…

766.555 Obligations of spouses under open-end plans. (1) In this section: (a) “Open-end plan” means credit extended on an account pursuant to a plan under which the creditor may permit a spouse to make purchases or obtain loans, from time to time, directly from the creditor or in…

766.56 Credit transactions with married persons. (1) If a spouse applies for credit that will result in an obligation described under s. 766.55 (2) (b), the creditor, in evaluating the spouse’s creditworthiness, shall consider all marital property available under s. 766.55 (2) (b…

766.565 Relationship to consumer act. (1) In this section, “open-end credit plan” has the meaning given under s. 421.301 (27). The term includes only those plans governed by chs. 421 to 427. (2) Except as provided under sub. (6), this section does not impose any additional or sep…

766.57 Protection of bona fide purchasers dealing with spouses. (1) In this section: (a) “Bona fide purchaser” means a purchaser of property for value who was not knowingly a party to fraud or illegality affecting the interest of the spouses or other parties to the transaction, d…

766.575 Protection of trustees dealing with spouses. (1) In this section: (a) “Business day” has the meaning given under s. 421.301 (6). (b) “Governing instrument” means the contract or other instrument pursuant to which a trustee has possession or control of property. The term i…

766.58 Marital property agreements. (1) A marital property agreement shall be a document signed by both spouses. Only the spouses may be parties to a marital property agreement. A marital property agreement is enforceable without consideration. (2) A marital property agreement ma…

766.585 Marital property agreements before determination date. (1) After April 4, 1984, and before their determination date, spouses or unmarried persons who subsequently marry each other may execute a marital property agreement under s. 766.58, which is intended to apply only af…

766.587 Statutory individual property classification agreement. (1) GENERALLY. (a) Spouses may execute a statutory individual property classification agreement under this section to classify all the property of the spouses, including property presently owned and property acquired…

766.588 Statutory terminable marital property classification agreement. (1) GENERALLY. (a) Spouses may execute an agreement under this section to classify the property of the spouses presently owned and property acquired, reclassified or created in the future, as marital property…

766.589 Statutory terminable individual property classification agreement. (1) GENERALLY. (a) For purposes of determining ownership of property classified by an agreement under this section, a spouse owns property if the property is held by that spouse. If property classified by …

766.59 Unilateral statement; income from nonmarital property. (1) Except as provided in s. 766.625 (2) (b) 2., a spouse may unilaterally execute a written statement which classifies the income attributable to all or certain of that spouse’s property other than marital property as…

766.60 Optional forms of holding property; survivorship ownership. (1) Spouses may hold marital property in a form that designates the holders of it by the words “(name of one spouse) or (name of other spouse) as marital property”. (2) Spouses may hold marital property in a form …

766.605 Classification of homestead. A homestead acquired after the determination date which, when acquired, is held exclusively between spouses with no 3rd party is survivorship marital property if no intent to the contrary is expressed on the instrument of transfer or in a mari…

766.61 Classification of life insurance policies and proceeds. (1) In this section: (a) “Owner” means a person appearing on the records of the policy issuer as the person having the ownership interest, or means the insured if no person other than the insured appears on those reco…

766.62 Classification of deferred employment benefits. (1) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), a deferred employment benefit attributable to employment of a spouse occurring after the determination date is marital property. (b) A deferred employment benefit attributable to employ…

766.625 Classification of digital property, including the content of electronic communications. (1) GEN- MARITAL PROPERTY ERAL. Except as otherwise determined under sub. (2), classifica- tion of digital property, including the content of electronic communications, is determined u…

766.63 Mixed property. (1) Except as provided otherwise in ss. 766.61, 766.62, and 766.625 (2), mixing marital property with property other than marital property reclassifies the other property to marital property unless the component of the mixed property which is not marital pr…

766.70 Remedies. (1) A spouse has a claim against the other spouse for breach of the duty of good faith imposed by s. 766.15 resulting in damage to the claimant spouse’s property. Except as otherwise provided in sub. (6), no spouse may commence an action under this subsection lat…

766.73 Invalid marriages. If a marriage is invalidated by a decree, a court may apply so much of this chapter to the property of the parties to the invalid marriage as is necessary to avoid an inequitable result. This section does not apply if s. 767.61 applies to the action to i…

766.75 Treatment of certain property at dissolution. After a dissolution each former spouse owns an undivided onehalf interest in the former marital property as a tenant in common, except as provided otherwise in a decree or an agreement entered into by the former spouses after d…

766.95 Rules of construction. Unless displaced by this chapter, the principles of law and equity supplement its provisions. History: 1983 a. 186.

766.96 Uniformity of application and construction. This chapter shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this chapter among states enacting it. History: 1983 a. 186.

766.97 Equal rights; common law disabilities. (1) Women and men have the same rights and privileges under the law in the exercise of suffrage, freedom of contract, choice of residence, jury service, holding office, holding and conveying property, care and custody of children and …