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

766.31 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 (2) (c) and (d) or 766.61 (4). (3) “Decree” means a judgment or other order of a court. (3m) “Deferred employment benefit” means a benefit from a deferred employment benefit plan. (4) (a) “Deferred employment benefit plan” means a plan, fund, program or other arrangement u…

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 (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 available for satisfaction of obligations after the death of a spouse. History: 1983 a. 186; 1985 a. 37.

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 (9) or 766.589 (10). (13) A person has “notice” of a fact if the person has knowledge of it, receives a notification of it, or has reason to know that it exists from the facts and circumstances known to the person. (15) “Property” means an interest, present or future, leg…

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 (1) or (2), the property is classified as the individual property of the owners and is owned as a tenancy in common. If while an agreement is in effect spouses acquire property as a joint tenancy exclusively between themselves or as survivorship marital property, the prope…

766.605 while an agreement is in effect, the property remains survivorship marital property as long as it is so held. 2. A joint tenancy which is held exclusively between the spouses when an agreement under this section becomes effective or while an agreement is in effect is surv…

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 (5). (b) Unless the marital property agreement expressly provides otherwise, marital property agreement that classifies as marital property the noninsured spouse’s interest in a policy that designates the other spouse as the owner and insured does not affect the operation …

766.625 (2). (8) The issue of whether a marital property agreement is unconscionable is for the court to decide as a matter of law. In the event that legal counsel is retained in connection with a marital property agreement the fact that both parties are represented by one counse…

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 (3) (a) to (d) or the right to assign, create a security interest in, mortgage or otherwise encumber marital property. (2) Spouses may manage and control marital property held in the names of both spouses other than in the alternative only if they act together. (3) The rig…

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 …