reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
WI Stat § 854.05 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.05 - No exoneration of encumbered property.

854.05  No exoneration of encumbered property. (1) Definitions. In this section:(a) “Debt" includes accrued interest on the debt.(b) “Encumbrance" includes mortgages, liens, pledges and other security agreements that are encumbrances on property. (2)  Generally. (a) Except as provided in sub. (5), all property that is specifically transferred by a governing instrument shall be assigned to the transferee without exoneration of a debt that is secured by an encumbrance on the property.(b) If the debt that is secured by the encumbrance on the property is paid in whole or in part out of other assets, the specifically transferred property shall be assigned to the transferee only if any of the following applies:1. The transferee contributes to the person or entity that held the assets that were used to pay the debt an amount equal to the amount that was paid.2. The person or entity secures the amount described in subd. 1. through a new encumbrance on the property. (3)  Joint tenancy; survivorship marital property. Except as provided in sub. (5), if all or part of a debt that is secured by an encumbrance on property in which the decedent at the time of death had an interest as a joint tenant or as a holder of survivorship marital property is paid out of other assets as the result of a claim being allowed, the person or entity that makes the payment is subrogated to all rights that the claimant had against the property. (4)  Insurance. Except as provided in sub. (5), if all or part of a debt that is secured by an encumbrance on the proceeds payable under a life insurance policy in which the decedent was the named insured is paid out of other assets as the result of a claim being allowed, the person or entity that makes the payment is subrogated to all rights that the claimant had against the proceeds. (5)  Contrary intent. (a) If the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is not applicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent.(b) A general directive to pay debts does not give rise to a presumption of exoneration.History:  1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.
WI Stat § 854.06 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.06 - Predeceased transferee.

854.06  Predeceased transferee. (1) Definitions. In this section:(a) “Provision in a governing instrument" includes all of the following:1. A gift to an individual whether or not the individual is alive at the time of the execution of the instrument.2. A share in a class gift only if a member of the class dies after the execution of the instrument.3. An appointment by the decedent under any power of appointment, unless the issue who would take under this section could not have been appointees under the terms of the power.(c) “Stepchild" means a child of the decedent's surviving, deceased or former spouse, and not of the decedent. (2)  Scope of coverage. This section applies to revocable provisions in a governing instrument executed by the decedent that provide for an outright transfer upon the death of the decedent to any of the following persons:(a) A grandparent of the decedent, or issue of a grandparent, subject to s. 854.21.(b) A stepchild of the decedent, subject to s. 854.15. (3)  Substitute gift to issue of covered transferee. Subject to sub. (4), if a transferee under a provision described in sub. (2) does not survive the decedent but has issue who do survive, the issue of the transferee take the transfer per stirpes, as provided in s. 854.04 (1). (4)  Contrary intent. (a) Subsection (3) does not apply if any of the following applies:1. The governing instrument provides that a transfer to a predeceased beneficiary lapses. 2. The governing instrument designates one or more persons, classes, or groups of people as contingent transferees, in which case those transferees take in preference to those under sub. (3). But if none of the contingent transferees survives, sub. (3) applies to the first group in the sequence of contingent transferees that has one or more transferees specified in sub. (2) who left surviving issue. (bm) If the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is not applicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent.History:  1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.A will clause providing that if any beneficiary dies within 5 months of the testator, the deceased beneficiary's share is to be treated as if the beneficiary predeceased the testator, served to pass a deceased beneficiary's share to her children under the anti-lapse statute. Firehammer v. Marchant, 224 Wis. 2d 673, 591 N.W.2d 898 (Ct. App. 1999), 98-0586.
WI Stat § 854.07 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.07 - Failed transfer and residue.

854.07  Failed transfer and residue. (1) Except as provided in sub. (4) and s. 854.06, if an attempted transfer under a governing instrument fails, the attempted transfer becomes part of the residue of the governing instrument. This subsection does not apply if the attempted transfer is itself a residuary transfer. (2) Except as provided in sub. (4) and s. 854.06, if the residue of a governing instrument is to be transferred to 2 or more persons, the share of a residuary transferee that fails passes to the other residuary transferees in proportion to the interest of each in the remaining part of the residue. (3) If a governing instrument other than a will does not effectively dispose of an asset that is governed by the instrument, that asset shall be paid or distributed to the transferor's probate estate. (4) If the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is inapplicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent. History:  1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.Under a will leaving “my homestead which I occupy at the time of my death" to a son, the home in which the testator lived when the will is executed should be awarded to the son even though the testator became ill and was confined to a nursing home for a year prior to his death and the home was rented. Estate of Gotthart, 56 Wis. 2d 563, 202 N.W.2d 397 (1972).The testator's spouse inherited the residue when a purported residuary clause made only specific and general bequests and did not make a dispositive provision for distribution of the residue. To read into a will a gift by implication, it is necessary to first find a positive, disposing intent based on a contingency that did not occur. Then it is possible, if the facts warrant it, to imply the same intent concerning the contingency which did occur but which was not accounted for in the will. In Matter of Estate of McWilliams, 78 Wis. 2d 328, 254 N.W.2d 277 (1977).NOTE:  The preceding cases were decided prior to the adoption of 1997 Wis. Act 188, which made extensive revisions to the Wisconsin Probate Code.
WI Stat § 854.09 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.09 - Advancement; satisfaction.

854.09  Advancement; satisfaction. (1) A gift that the decedent made during his or her lifetime, including an incomplete gift that became complete on the decedent's death, is treated as a full or partial satisfaction of a transfer at death to an heir under s. 852.01 (1) or a transferee under a governing instrument executed by the decedent only if at least one of the following applies:(a) The governing instrument, if any, either expressly or as construed from extrinsic evidence, provides that the gift be taken into account.(b) The decedent declared in a document, either expressly or as construed from extrinsic evidence, that the gift is in satisfaction of, or an advance against, what the transferee would receive at the decedent's death, whether or not the document was contemporaneous with the gift.(c) The transferee acknowledged in writing before or after the decedent's death, either expressly or as construed from extrinsic evidence, that the gift is in satisfaction of, or an advance against, what the transferee would receive at the decedent's death. (2) For partial satisfaction, property given during life is valued as of the time that the transferee came into possession or enjoyment of the property or at the death of the person who executed the governing instrument, whichever occurs first. (3) If the transferee fails to survive the person who executed the governing instrument and his or her issue take a substitute transfer under intestacy or under a governing instrument, the issue receive the same transfer that the named transferee would have received had the transferee survived, unless the transferor declared otherwise in a document, either expressly or as construed from extrinsic evidence.History:  1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.
WI Stat § 854.10 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.10 - Choice of law.

854.10  Choice of law. The meaning and legal effect of a governing instrument are determined by the local law of the state selected by the transferor in the governing instrument, unless the application of that law is contrary to s. 861.02 or 861.31 or any other public policy of this state otherwise applicable to the disposition.History:  1997 a. 188.
WI Stat § 854.11 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.11 - Gift of securities.

854.11  Gift of securities. (1) Definition. In this section, “securities" includes all of the following:(a) Any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, collateral trust certificate, transferable share or voting trust certificate.(b) Any certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas or mining title or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease.(c) Any interest or instrument commonly known as a security.(d) Any certificate of interest or participation in, any temporary or interim certificate, receipt or certificate of deposit for, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the instruments or interests specified in pars. (a) to (c). (2)  Increase in securities; accessions. Except as provided in sub. (4), if a person executes a governing instrument that transfers securities and at the time of the execution or immediately after execution the described securities are in fact governed by the instrument, the transfer includes additional securities that are governed by the instrument at the person's death if all of the following apply:(a) The additional securities were acquired after the governing instrument was executed.(b) The additional securities were acquired as a result of ownership of the described securities.(c) The additional securities are any of the following types:1. Securities of the same organization acquired as a result of a plan of reinvestment.2. Securities of the same organization acquired by action initiated by the organization or any successor, related or acquiring organization, excluding any acquired by exercise of purchase options.3. Securities of another organization acquired as a result of a merger, consolidation, reorganization or other distribution by the organization or any successor, related or acquiring organization. (3)  Gift of securities construed as specific. Except as provided in sub. (4), a transfer of a stated number of shares or amount of securities is construed to be a specific gift if the same or a greater number of shares or amount of the securities was governed by the instrument at the time of, or immediately after, execution of the instrument, even if the instrument does not describe the securities more specifically or qualify the description by a possessive pronoun such as “my". (4)  Contrary intent. If the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is inapplicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent.History:  1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.
WI Stat § 854.12 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.12 - Debt to transferor.

854.12  Debt to transferor. (1) Heir under intestacy.  (a) If an heir owes a debt to the decedent, the amount of the indebtedness shall be offset against the intestate share of the debtor heir.(b) In contesting an offset under par. (a), the debtor heir shall have the benefit of any defense that would be available to the debtor heir in a direct proceeding by the personal representative for the recovery of the debt, except that the debtor heir may not defend on the basis that the debt was discharged in bankruptcy or on the basis that the relevant statute of limitations has expired. If the debtor fails to survive the decedent, the court may not include the debt in computing any intestate shares of the debtor's issue. (2)  Transferee under revocable governing instrument. (a) Subject to par. (c), if a transferee under a revocable governing instrument survives the transferor and is indebted to the transferor, the amount of the indebtedness shall be treated as an offset against the property to which the debtor transferee is entitled. If multiple revocable governing instruments transfer property to the debtor, the debt shall be equitably allocated against the various instruments.(b) Subject to par. (c), in contesting an offset under par. (a), the debtor shall have the benefit of any defense that would be available to the transferee in a direct proceeding for the recovery of the debt, except that the transferee may not defend on the basis that the debt was discharged in bankruptcy, unless that discharge occurred before the execution of the governing instrument, or on the basis that the relevant statute of limitations has expired. If the transferee fails to survive the decedent, the debt may not be included in computing the entitlement of alternate beneficiaries.(c) If the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this subsection, then that provision is not applicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent. (3)  Property not distributed because of offset. The property not distributed to the debtor becomes part of the residue of the entity that holds the debt. If the debt is not held by an entity, then the property not distributed to the debtor becomes part of the residue of the decedent's probate estate. History:  2005 a. 216.
WI Stat § 854.17 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.17 - Marital property classification; ownership and division of marital property at death.

854.17  Marital property classification; ownership and division of marital property at death. Classification of the property of a decedent spouse and surviving spouse, and ownership and division of that property at the death of a spouse, are determined under ch. 766 and s. 861.01. History:  1985 a. 37; 1997 a. 188 s. 92; Stats. 1997 s. 854.17; 2005 a. 216, 387; 2009 a. 180.
WI Stat § 854.18 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.18 - Order in which assets apportioned; abatement.

854.18  Order in which assets apportioned; abatement. (1) (a) Except as provided in sub. (3) or in connection with the deferred marital property elective share amount of a surviving spouse who elects under s. 861.02, the share of a surviving spouse who takes under s. 853.12, or the share of a surviving child who takes under s. 853.25, shares of distributees abate, without any preference or priority as between real and personal property, in the following order:1. If the governing instrument is a will, property subject to intestacy.2. Residuary transfers or devises under the governing instrument.3. General transfers or devises under the governing instrument.4. Specific transfers or devises under the governing instrument.(b) For purposes of abatement, a general transfer or devise charged on any specific property or fund is a specific transfer to the extent of the value of the property on which it is charged, and upon the failure or insufficiency of the property on which it is charged, it is a general transfer to the extent of the failure or insufficiency. (2) (a) Abatement within each classification is in proportion to the amount of property that each of the beneficiaries would have received if full distribution of the property had been made in accordance with the terms of the governing instrument.(b) If the subject of a preferred transfer is sold or used incident to administration of an estate, abatement shall be achieved by appropriate adjustments in, or contribution from, other interests in the remaining assets. (3) If the governing instrument expresses an order of abatement, or if the transferor's estate plan or the purpose of the transfer, as expressed, implied, or construed through extrinsic evidence, would be defeated by the order of abatement under sub. (1), the shares of the distributees abate as necessary to give effect to the intention of the transferor. History:  1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.
WI Stat § 854.19 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.19 - Penalty clause for contest.

854.19  Penalty clause for contest. A provision in a governing instrument that prescribes a penalty against an interested person for contesting the governing instrument or instituting other proceedings relating to the governing instrument may not be enforced if the court determines that the interested person had probable cause for instituting the proceedings.History:  1997 a. 188.
WI Stat § 854.20 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.20 - Status of adopted persons.

854.20  Status of adopted persons. (1) Inheritance rights between adoptive person and adoptive relatives. (a) Subject to par. (b) and sub. (5), a legally adopted person is treated as a birth child of the person's adoptive parents and the adoptive parents are treated as the birth parents of the adopted person for purposes of transfers at death to, through, and from the adopted person and for purposes of any statute or other rule conferring rights upon children, issue, or relatives in connection with the law of intestate succession or governing instruments.(b) Subject to sub. (5), par. (a) applies only if at least one of the following applies: 1. The decedent or transferor is the adoptive parent or adopted child.2. The adopted person was a minor at the time of adoption.3. The adoptive parent raised the adopted person in a parent-like relationship beginning on or before the child's 15th birthday and lasting for a substantial period or until adulthood. (2)  Inheritance rights between adopted person and birth relatives. (am) Subject to sub. (5), a legally adopted person ceases to be treated as a child of the person's birth parents and the birth parents cease to be treated as the parents of the child for the purposes specified in sub. (1) (a), except:1. If the parent-child relationship between the child and one birth parent is replaced by adoption, but the relationship to the other birth parent is not replaced, then for all purposes the child continues to be treated as the child of the birth parent whose relationship was not replaced.2.a. Subject to subd. 2. b. and c., if a birth parent of a child born to married parents dies and the other birth parent subsequently remarries and the child is adopted by the stepparent, the child continues to be treated as the child of the deceased birth parent for purposes of transfers at death through that parent and for purposes of any statute or other rule conferring rights upon children, issue or relatives of that parent under the law of intestate succession or governing instruments.b. Subd. 2. a. applies only if the adopted person was a minor at the time of adoption or if the adoptive parent raised the adopted person in a parent-like relationship beginning on or before the child's 15th birthday and lasting for a substantial period or until adulthood.c. Subdivision 2. a. does not apply if the parental rights of the deceased birth parent had been terminated.(bm) Subject to sub. (5), if an adopted child is subsequently adopted by another person, the former adoptive parent is considered to be a birth parent for purposes of this subsection. (5)  Contrary intent. If the transfer is made under a governing instrument and the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is not applicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent. History:  1983 a. 447; 1993 a. 486; 1997 a. 188 ss. 96, 175; Stats. 1997 s. 854.20; 2005 a. 216.
WI Stat § 854.22 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.22 - Form of distribution for transfers to family groups or classes.

854.22  Form of distribution for transfers to family groups or classes. (1) Interests in heirs, next of kin and the like. Subject to sub. (4), if a statute or governing instrument specifies that a present or future interest is to be created in a designated individual's “heirs", “heirs at law", “next of kin", “relatives", “family" or a term that has a similar meaning, the property passes to the persons, including the state, to whom it would pass and in the shares in which it would pass under the laws of intestacy of the designated individual's domicile, as if the designated individual had died immediately before the transfer was to take effect in possession or enjoyment. If the designated individual's surviving spouse is living and remarried when the transfer is to take effect in possession or enjoyment, the surviving spouse is not an heir of the designated individual. (2)  Transfers to descendants, issue and the like. Subject to sub. (4), if a statute or governing instrument creates a class gift in favor of a designated individual's “descendants", “issue" or “heirs of the body" the property is distributed among the class members who are living when the interest is to take effect in possession or enjoyment in the shares that they would receive under the laws of intestacy of the designated individual's domicile, as if the designated individual had then died owning the subject matter of the class gift. (3)  Doctrine of worthier title abolished. The doctrine of worthier title is abolished as a rule of law and as a rule of construction. Language in a governing instrument describing the beneficiaries of a disposition as the transferor's “heirs", “heirs at law", “next of kin", “distributees", “relatives" or “family", or a term that has a similar meaning, does not create or presumptively create a reversionary interest in the transferor. (4)  Contrary intent. If the transfer is made under a governing instrument and the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is inapplicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent. History:  1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.
WI Stat § 854.24 (2021)
2021 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations|Chapter 854 - Transfers at death — general rules.|854.24 - Protection of buyers.

854.24  Protection of buyers. A person who purchases property for value or who receives property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation is neither obligated under this chapter to return the property nor liable under this chapter for the value of the property, unless the person has notice as described in s. 854.23 (3).History:  1997 a. 188.