Chapter 891 — PRESUMPTIONS

891.03 Lists of state lands. All statements or lists of lands which shall have been certified by the president of the United States, or by any other officer of the government thereof, as conveyed to the state under or by any act of congress, being produced by the proper custodian…

891.04 Certificate as to public lands. The certificate of the executive secretary appointed under s. 24.55 under the official seal, that any specified piece or tract of land belongs to or is mortgaged to the state, or that the state has any interest, legal or equitable, in that l…

891.05 Land patents by state officers. Every patent which shall have been executed and delivered by the commissioners of school and university lands or by the commissioners of public lands, purporting to convey any land, and every deed or patent which shall have been executed and…

891.06 Deed on judicial sale. Every conveyance of land or any estate or interest therein executed by any sheriff, referee, receiver or other person, in pursuance of a sale made by virtue of any judgment, order, license or execution of any court of record in this state, and which …

891.07 Certificate of judicial sale. Every certificate of sale of land or any estate or interest therein executed by any sheriff, referee, receiver or other person, in pursuance of a sale made by virtue of any judgment, order, license or execution of any court of record in this s…

891.08 Records showing revenue stamps. Whenever the record, in the office of a register of deeds, of any conveyance or of any instrument whatever, upon which revenue stamps may have been at any time required to be affixed by any act of congress, shall show such stamps or any of t…

891.09 Record of births, stillbirths, fetal deaths, deaths and marriages. (1) RECORDS AS EVIDENCE. The record of any marriage, birth, stillbirth, fetal death or death kept in the office of any register of deeds or local health officer of a local health department, as defined in s…

891.10 Village records. The papers, documents and orders relating to the organization and incorporation or the alteration of the boundaries of any village, being recorded in the office of the proper register of deeds pursuant to law, and such record and also the record thereof in…

891.11 County records as to taxation. (1) All books and files in the office of any county treasurer or county clerk, all assessments and tax rolls and certificates, all notices required to be published or posted by the county treasurer or county clerk, and the proofs of publicati…

891.12 Land office receipt. The receiver’s receipt or certificate of purchase of public lands, signed by the receiver, and the official certificate of any register or receiver of the entry or purchase of any land or the location of any land by any land warrant shall be received, …

891.14 State land office certification of title. A certificate of the executive secretary of the board of commissioners of public lands, or any one of the commissioners of the public lands shall be received as presumptive evidence of the facts stated, and that the person named be…

891.16 Certificate of land transfers. A certificate by the secretary of state, under the great or lesser seal, to any facts which appear from the books, files and records in the secretary of state’s office or the office of the commissioners of public lands in regard to the grant,…

891.17 Certificate of adjutant general. A certificate by the adjutant general to any facts which appear from the books, files and records in the adjutant general’s office shall be received as presumptive evidence of the facts so certified. History: 1993 a. 486.

891.18 Affidavits of service. Whenever any notice or other writing is by law authorized or required to be served the affidavit of the person serving it, setting forth the facts necessary to show that it was duly served, shall be presumptive proof that such notice or writing was d…

891.20 Articles of incorporation, presumptions. Except as provided in s. 180.0203 (2), any charter or patent of incorporation which shall have been issued by the governor, secretary of state or department of financial institutions, or by any combination, to any corporation under …

891.21 Affidavit of notice of corporate meeting. Whenever any corporation or limited liability company notice is given, posted or served, an affidavit of the person who gave, posted or served the same, specifying the manner and time of doing so, annexed to a copy of such notice, …

891.22 Certificate of insurance assessment. Whenever an action is brought by any mutual insurance company to collect any assessment, the certificate of the secretary of said company, specifying such assessment, the amount due said company by means thereof, and that notice thereof…

891.23 Copies of insurance books. (1) Copies of the entries in the books of any life or mutual benefit insurance corporation or association engaged in doing business on the level premium or assessment plan, together with statements verified by the custodian of the books, showing …

891.24 Evidence from financial institution books. Whenever any bank, credit union, savings bank or savings and loan association or any of its officers are subpoenaed to produce its books containing a specified account or other specified entries, the bank, credit union, savings ba…

891.25 Presumptions as to signatures. When any written instrument constitutes the subject of the action or proceeding or when the signing of such instrument is put in issue and the instrument purports to have been signed, the instrument itself is proof that it was signed until de…

891.27 Effect of seal. A seal upon an executory instrument shall be received as only presumptive evidence of a sufficient consideration.

891.28 Area of towns and counties. Whenever the total area of towns or counties shall be in question, townships not returned as fractional by the surveys under which the public lands were sold by the United States, shall be held to be 6 miles square; and townships returned as fra…

891.29 Allegations of partnership. Whenever in any action or proceeding a party shall allege in pleadings that named persons were partners at any particular time, or that as such partners they used any particular partnership name or style under which business was done, such averm…

891.30 Joint liability. In actions or proceedings upon written contracts alleged to have been executed by the defendants, proof of the joint liability of the defendants shall not be required to entitle the plaintiff to judgment unless such execution is denied by an answer. Histor…

891.31 Corporate existence. In an action or proceeding by or against any corporation or limited liability company, it shall not be necessary to prove the existence of such corporation or limited liability company unless its existence is specially denied by an answer. History: Sup…

891.32 Allegation as to representative capacity. Whenever a plaintiff sues as a personal representative, guardian, or trustee and alleges in the complaint appointment to that position and, if the appointment was made in another state or a foreign country, the filing or recording …

891.33 Proof of malice in slander and libel. If the defendant in any action for slander or libel shall set up in the defendant’s answer that the words spoken or published were true, such answer shall not be proof of the malice alleged in the complaint. History: 1993 a. 486.

891.34 Presumption as to citizenship. Whenever in any proceeding to test the qualifications of any person to hold office the question of the citizenship of said person is raised, the burden of proof as to such citizenship shall be upon the person whose qualifications are conteste…

891.345 Establishment of citizenship. Upon petition and proper showing made, that naturalization papers, or written May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26) 891.345 PRESUMPTIONS records thereof, have been lost or destroyed, the circuit court of the county in whi…

891.35 Execution of official bond. In every action upon any official bond the original bond or a certified copy thereof shall be presumptive evidence of the due execution thereof by the officer and the officer’s sureties. History: 1993 a. 486.

891.36 Evidence of title to realty. In all criminal proceedings in which it is necessary for the state to prove that any person owns or has an interest in any real estate, a conveyance to such person of such real estate or an interest therein, so executed and acknowledged or prov…

891.37 Presumption as to officer’s return. The return of a sheriff or constable to any writ shall be presumptive evidence that such return is correct and that the service has been rendered or disbursement made.

891.38 Officer’s certificate as evidence. The certificate of the sheriff or other proper officer endorsed upon the summons, stating the time when he or she received the same for service, shall be presumptive evidence that he or she did receive the summons for service on the day i…

891.39 Presumption as to whether a child is marital or nonmarital; self-crimination; birth certificates. (1) (a) Whenever it is established in an action or proceeding that a child was born to a woman while she was the lawful wife of a specified man, any party asserting in such ac…

891.395 Presumption as to time of conception. In any paternity proceeding, in the absence of a valid birth certificate indicating the birth weight, the mother shall be competent to testify as to the birth weight of the child whose paternity is at issue, and where the child whose …

891.40 Artificial insemination. (1) If, under the supervision of a licensed physician and with the consent of her husband, a wife is inseminated artificially with semen donated by a man not her husband, the husband of the mother at the time of the conception of the child shall be…

891.405 Presumption of paternity based on acknowledgment. A man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if he and the mother have acknowledged paternity under s. 69.15 (3) (b) 1. or 3. and no other man is presumed to be the father under s. 891.41 (1). History: 1989 a. 212…

891.407 Presumption of paternity based on genetic test results. A man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if the man has been conclusively determined from genetic test results to be the father under s. 767.804 and no other man is presumed to be the father under s. 891…

891.41 Presumption of paternity based on marriage of the parties. (1) A man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if any of the following applies: (a) He and the child’s natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is conceived or born after marri…

891.43 Relief from destruction of public records. (1) RERECORDING INSTRUMENTS. If the records of any county are destroyed, any instrument in writing or certified copy of such in- PRESUMPTIONS 891.43 strument which affects title to land in that county and which has been recorded m…

891.44 Presumption of lack of contributory negligence for infant minor. It shall be conclusively presumed that an infant minor who has not reached the age of 7 shall be incapable of being guilty of contributory negligence or of any negligence whatsoever. A refusal to instruct und…

891.453 Presumption of employment-connected disease; infectious disease. (1) In this section: (a) “Correctional officer” means any person employed by the state or by a county or a municipality as a guard or officer whose principal duties are the supervision and discipline of inma…

891.455 Presumption of employment-connected disease; cancer. (1) In this section, “state, county, or municipal fire fighter” means a fire fighter who is covered under s. 891.45 and any person under s. 60.553, 61.66, or 62.13 (2e) whose duties as a fire fighter during the 10-year …

891.46 Mailed service. Unless otherwise specifically provided by statute or rule adopted under s. 751.12, summonses, citations, notices, motions and other papers required or authorized to be served by mail in judicial or administrative proceedings are presumed to be served when d…