Community property, under a different name
Wisconsin's Marital Property Act, created by 1983 Wis. Act 186 and amended in 1985, took effect under a "determination date" of January 1, 1986. The law is explicit about its purpose: it's the legislature's intent that marital property be a form of community property. Property either spouse acquires during the marriage is generally owned equally as marital property — but ordinary marital property, titled just as "marital property," still requires probate for the deceased spouse's half. A third party who succeeds to that half becomes a tenant in common with the survivor, not an outright new co-owner.
The one word that avoids probate
Under Wis. Stat. § 766.60, using the phrase "survivorship marital property" instead of plain "marital property" in the title changes the outcome completely. When a spouse dies, their ownership rights in property held this way vest solely in the surviving spouse by nontestamentary disposition — automatically, without probate. The first spouse to die can't dispose of any interest in survivorship marital property through their will, even if they try; the survivorship terms control regardless.
Post-1986 spousal joint tenancy converts automatically
Married couples don't have to use the exact phrase "survivorship marital property" to get this treatment. If a document of title expresses an intent to create a joint tenancy exclusively between spouses after the 1986 determination date, Wisconsin law treats the resulting property as survivorship marital property by default — not as an ordinary joint tenancy. The reverse is also true: a tenancy in common created exclusively between spouses after that date becomes ordinary marital property instead, unless a marital property agreement says otherwise.
A mortgage doesn't defeat the survivor's right
Creditors reaching a deceased spouse's share don't automatically undo survivorship marital property. A real estate mortgage, a security interest, or certain statutory liens against a deceased spouse's interest in survivorship marital property don't defeat the surviving spouse's right of survivorship — the survivor simply takes the interest subject to that existing mortgage or lien, rather than losing the survivorship outright.
Non-spousal joint tenancy: the usual express-language rule
For co-owners who aren't married to each other, § 700.19 requires a document that expresses an intent to create a joint tenancy. Wisconsin accepts a fairly wide range of phrasing for this — "as joint tenants," "as joint owners," "jointly," "or the survivor," "with right of survivorship," or any similar phrase — with one specific exception: a phrase similar to "survivorship marital property" doesn't create an ordinary joint tenancy, because that phrasing is reserved for the marital property regime.
A newer tool, added right to the title
None of these co-ownership forms are the only way to keep Wisconsin real estate out of probate. See our guide to the Wisconsin TOD designation for a tool that works by adding a beneficiary directly to the existing title, rather than requiring a whole new co-ownership form.