Marital property is community property, by name
Wisconsin's Marital Property Act states plainly that the legislature intends marital property to be a form of community property. Property either spouse acquires during marriage is generally marital property, owned equally — but ordinary marital property, titled just as "marital property," still requires probate administration for the deceased spouse's half. A third party who succeeds to that half becomes a tenant in common with the surviving spouse, not a full owner outright.
One extra word changes everything
Under Wis. Stat. § 766.60, titling property as "survivorship marital property" — rather than just "marital property" — changes the outcome entirely. On a spouse's death, ownership vests solely in the surviving spouse automatically, and the first spouse to die can't dispose of any interest in it by will, even if they try. A joint tenancy created exclusively between spouses after Wisconsin's 1986 determination date automatically becomes survivorship marital property by default. See our full breakdown of Wisconsin marital property and joint tenancy rules.
Non-spousal joint tenancy needs the right words
For co-owners who aren't married to each other, § 700.19 requires the document to express an intent to create a joint tenancy — phrases like "as joint tenants," "jointly," "or the survivor," or "with right of survivorship" all qualify. Without one of those, ownership defaults to a tenancy in common, with no survivorship.
A TOD designation, not a separate deed
Wisconsin's transfer-on-death tool works a little differently from many other states. Under § 705.15, an owner designates a TOD beneficiary directly on the title document itself — using the words "transfer on death" or "TOD" after the owner's name — rather than executing a whole separate beneficiary deed. See our full guide to the Wisconsin TOD designation.
Bank accounts default to survivorship
Under § 705.04, sums remaining on deposit in a joint account at a party's death belong to the surviving party or parties by default, unless there's clear and convincing evidence the account holders intended something different. See our guide to Wisconsin beneficiary and P.O.D. accounts.
Where this feeds into other Wisconsin calculators
The probate-estate total from this tool is the starting point for Wisconsin's probate cost and executor fee calculators, and for checking Wisconsin's small estate affidavit. Wisconsin has no state estate or inheritance tax, so this total doesn't feed into a separate state tax calculation.