Chapter 815

815.18(3)(i)1.a. a. A payment to the debtor under a life insurance contract that insured the life of an individual of whom the debtor was a dependent on the date of that individual’s death, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and the debtor’s dependents.

815.18(3)(i)1.b. b. A payment resulting from the wrongful death of an individual of whom the debtor was a dependent, in an amount reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and the debtor’s dependents.

815.18(3)(i)1.c. c. A payment, not to exceed $50,000, resulting from personal bodily injury, including pain and suffering or compensation for actual pecuniary loss, of the debtor or an individual of whom the debtor is a dependent.

815.18(3)(i)1.d. d. A payment in compensation of loss of future earnings of the debtor or an individual of whom the debtor is or was a dependent in an amount reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and the debtor’s dependents.

815.18(3)(i)2. 2. Any property traceable to payments under subd. 1. is exempt.

815.18(3)(j) (j) Retirement benefits.

815.18(3)(j)1. 1. Assets held or amounts payable under any retirement, pension, disability, death benefit, stock bonus, profit sharing plan, annuity, individual retirement account, individual retirement annuity, Keogh, 401-K or similar plan or contract providing benefits by reason of age, illness, disability, death or length of service and payments made to the debtor therefrom.

815.18(3)(j)2. 2. The plan or contract must meet one of the following requirements:

815.18(3)(j)2.a. a. The plan or contract complies with the provisions of the internal revenue code.

815.18(3)(j)2.b. b. The employer created the plan or contract for the exclusive benefit of the employer, if self-employed, or of some or all of the employees, or their dependents or beneficiaries and that plan or contract requires the employer or employees or both to make contributions for the purpose of distributing to the employer, if self-employed, the employees, or their dependents or beneficiaries, the earnings or the principal or both of a trust, annuity, insurance or other benefit created under the plan or contract and makes it impossible, at any time prior to the satisfaction of all liabilities with respect to beneficiaries under a trust created by the plan or contract, for any part of the principal or income of the trust to be used for or diverted to purposes other than for the exclusive benefit of those beneficiaries.

815.18(3)(j)3. 3. The plan or contract may permit the income created from personal property held in a trust created under the plan or contract to accumulate in accordance with the terms of the trust. The trust may continue until it accomplishes its purposes. The trust is not invalid as violating the rule against perpetuities or any law against perpetuities or the suspension of the power of alienation of title to property.

815.18(3)(j)4. 4. The benefits of this exemption with respect to the assets held or amounts payable under or traceable to an owner-dominated plan for or on behalf of a debtor who is an owner-employee shall be limited to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and the debtor’s dependents.

815.18(3)(j)5. 5. This exemption does not apply to an order of a court concerning child support, family support or maintenance payments, or to any judgment of annulment, divorce or legal separation.

815.18(3)(j)6. 6. In this paragraph:

815.18(3)(j)6.a. a. “Employer” includes a group of employers creating a combined plan or contract for the benefit of their employees or the beneficiaries of those employees.

815.18(3)(j)6.b. b. “Owner-dominated plan” means any plan or contract that meets the requirements of subd. 2. and under which 90 percent or more of the present value of the accrued benefits or 90 percent or more of the aggregate of the account is for the benefit of one or more individuals who are owner-employees. For purposes of this definition, the accrued benefits or account of an owner-employee under a plan or contract shall include the accrued benefits or account of the spouse, any ancestor or lineal descendant, whether by blood or by adoption, or the spouse of such a lineal descendant, of the owner-employee under the same plan or contract.

815.18(3)(j)6.c. c. “Owner-employee” means any individual who owns, directly or indirectly, the entire interest in an unincorporated trade or business, or 50 percent or more of the combined voting of all classes of stock entitled to vote or the total value of shares of all classes of stock of a corporation, or 50 percent or more of the capital interest or profits interest of a partnership or limited liability company.

815.18(3)(k) (k) Depository accounts. Depository accounts in the aggregate value of $5,000, but only to the extent that the account is for the debtor’s personal use and is not used as a business account.

815.18(3)(m) (m) Private property from execution against municipalities. All private property shall be exempt from seizure and sale upon any execution or other process issued to enforce any judgment or decree of any court that has been rendered against any county, town, city, village, technical college district or school district in this state.

815.18(3)(n) (n) War pension. All money received by a person, a resident of this state, as pension, compensation, government insurance, or adjusted compensation, back pension, compensation or insurance from the U.S. government on account of military or naval service, and all other money received by a person on account of military or naval service from the U.S. government administered by the U.S. department of veterans affairs, whether the same is in the actual possession of such person, on deposit, or loaned.

815.18(3)(o) (o) Tuition units. Tuition units purchased under s. 224.48.

815.18(3)(p) (p) College savings accounts. An interest in a college savings account under s. 224.50.

815.18(4) (4) Tracing. Property traceable to property that would be exempt under this section in the form of cash proceeds or otherwise is not exempt unless expressly provided for in this section.

815.18(5) (5) Availability. A resident is entitled to the exemptions provided by this section. A nonresident is entitled to the exemptions provided by the law of the jurisdiction of his or her residence.

815.18(6) (6) Claiming exemptions.

815.18(6)(a) (a) A debtor shall affirmatively claim an exemption or select specific property in which to claim an exemption. The debtor may make the claim at the time of seizure of property or within a reasonable time after the seizure, but shall make the claim prior to the disposition of the property by sale or by court order. Exempt property is not exempt unless affirmatively claimed as exempt. With respect to property partially exempt under this section, the claiming of an exemption includes the process of selection required of the debtor. The debtor or a person acting on the debtor’s behalf shall make any required affirmative claim, either orally or in writing, to the creditor, the creditor’s attorney or the officer seeking to impose a lien by court action upon the property in which the exemption is claimed. A debtor waives his or her exemption rights by failing to follow the procedure under this paragraph. A contractual waiver of exemption rights by any debtor before judgment on the claim is void. The court, in making a determination as to the extent property is reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and the debtor’s dependents, is not limited to the standard of living to which the debtor and the debtor’s dependents have become accustomed. The court shall consider the amount and use of any income of any person claimed as a dependent when determining if that person is a dependent of a debtor.

815.18(6)(b) (b) Notwithstanding sub. (13), this subsection does not apply to any of the following:

815.18(6)(b)1. 1. Public employee trust funds exempt under s. 40.08 (1).

815.18(6)(b)2. 2. Retirement benefits and allowances from retirement systems of 1st class cities exempt under s. 62.63 (4).

815.18(6)(b)3. 3. Retirement benefits and allowances from retirement systems of counties having a population of 750,000 or more exempt under chapter 201, laws of 1937, section 11.

815.18(6)(b)4. 4. A homestead exempt under s. 815.20.

815.18(7) (7) Valuation of property. The value of any property subject to exemption under this section shall be determined by agreement of the parties or by a commercially reasonable manner.

815.18(8) (8) Marital property rights. Each spouse is entitled to and may claim the exemptions under this section. If the property exempt under this section is limited to a specified maximum dollar amount, each spouse is entitled to one exemption. That exemption is limited to the specified maximum dollar amount, which may be combined with the other spouse’s exemption in the same property or applied to different property included under the same exemption. The exemption under sub. (3) (h) may not be combined with the other spouse’s exemption under sub. (3) (h) and applied to the same property.

815.18(9) (9) Partially exempt property. In the case of property that is partially exempt, the debtor or any person acting on the debtor’s behalf is entitled to claim the exempt portion of property. The exempt portion claimed shall be set apart for the debtor, or for the debtor’s dependents, and the nonexempt portion shall be subject to a creditor’s claim. If partially exempt property is indivisible, the property may be sold and the exempt value of the property paid to the debtor or the debtor’s dependents. Any proceeds paid to the debtor or to the debtor’s dependents shall be exempt while held by the debtor or the debtor’s dependents as cash or in a depository account.

815.18(10) (10) Fraudulent and voidable transfers. A conveyance or transfer of wholly exempt property shall not be considered a fraudulent conveyance or a fraudulent or voidable transfer. Property that is not totally exempt in value under this section may be subject to a voidable transfer action under ch. 242 to set aside that transfer to the extent that the property’s value is not exempt under this section. If a court is required to satisfy the claim of a creditor and if that relief is demanded, the court may determine the manner of dividing fraudulently transferred property or property for which the transfer is voidable into exempt and nonexempt portions, or may order the sale of the whole property and an accounting of the exempt portion. Any or all of the exemptions granted by this section may be denied if, in the discretion of the court having jurisdiction, the debtor procured, concealed or transferred assets with the intention of defrauding creditors.

815.18(11) (11) Consumer credit transaction exemptions. The debtor may claim either the exemptions listed in s. 425.106 or the exemptions under this section for an obligation arising from a consumer credit transaction.

815.18(12) (12) Limitations on exemptions. No property otherwise exempt may be claimed as exempt in any proceeding brought by any person to recover the whole or part of the purchase price of the property or against the claim or interest of a holder of a security interest, land contract, condominium or homeowners association assessment or maintenance lien or both, mortgage or any consensual or statutory lien.

815.18(13) (13) Applicability to other property. Subsections (2), (4) to (7), (9), (10) and (12) apply to the following exempt property except as otherwise provided by law:

815.18(13)(a) (a) Assistance benefits exempt under s. 49.96.

815.18(13)(b) (b) Crime victim awards exempt under s. 949.07.

815.18(13)(c) (c) Fraternal benefits exempt under s. 614.96.

815.18(13)(d) (d) A homestead exempt under s. 815.20.

815.18(13)(e) (e) Partnership property, as described in ss. 178.0203 and 178.0204.

815.18(13)(f) (f) Public employee trust fund benefits exempt under s. 40.08 (1).

815.18(13)(g) (g) Salary used to purchase savings bonds exempt under s. 20.921 (1) (e).

815.18(13)(h) (h) Retirement benefits and allowances from retirement systems of 1st class cities exempt under s. 62.63 (4).

815.18(13)(hm) (hm) Retirement benefits and allowances from retirement systems of counties having a population of 750,000 or more exempt under chapter 201, laws of 1937, section 11.

815.18(13)(i) (i) Tenant’s lease and stock interest of a housing corporation exempt under s. 182.004 (6).

815.18(13)(j) (j) Unemployment insurance benefits exempt under s. 108.13.

815.18(13)(k) (k) Veterans benefits exempt under s. 45.03 (8) (b).

815.18 History History: 1971 c. 154, 172; 1971 c. 211 s. 126; 1971 c. 229 s. 14; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 761 (1975); 1975 c. 94 s. 91 (3), (5); 1975 c. 199; 1975 c. 359 s. 51; Stats. 1975 s. 815.18; 1979 c. 110 s. 60 (4); 1979 c. 191, 265, 355; 1985 a. 37; 1989 a. 56, 278, 359; 1991 a. 39, 221; 1993 a. 112, 399, 491; 1995 a. 27, 403; 1997 a. 39; 1999 a. 9, 44; 1999 a. 150 s. 672; 1999 a. 162; 2001 a. 10; 2003 a. 138, 304; 2005 a. 22, 441; 2009 a. 80; 2011 a. 32, 258; 2015 a. 237, 295; 2017 a. 59; 2017 a. 207 s. 5; 2023 a. 12, 246.

815.18 Annotation Sub. (31) [now sub. (3) (j)] does not violate article I, section 17, of the Wisconsin Constitution. North Side Bank v. Gentile, 129 Wis. 2d 208, 385 N.W.2d 133 (1986).

815.18 Annotation So long as a debtor initially files claimed exemptions within a reasonable time after seizure, and prior to disposition, nothing prohibits a debtor from amending the claim. Tralmer Sales & Service, Inc. v. Erickson, 186 Wis. 2d 549, 521 N.W.2d 182 (Ct. App. 1994).

815.18 Annotation The presence of a beneficiary-specific exemption in s. 16.641 [now s. 224.50] does not mean that the general exemption in sub. (3) (p) is ambiguous. The general exemption statute is succinct and straightforward. Sub. (3) (p) applies to an account owner’s interest in a s. 16.641 [now s. 224.50] college savings account. Cirilli v. Bronk, 775 F.3d 871 (2015).

815.18 Annotation An annuity does not have to comply with multiple provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to qualify for an exemption under sub. (3) (j). “Complies with the provisions of the internal revenue code” in sub. (3) (j) 2. a. means eligibility to receive the tax deferral applicable to annuities under the IRC. Since the IRC taxes most income in one way or another, the critical issue in taxing an annuity is whether the taxpayer can benefit from deferred taxation of the implicit appreciation of the principal paid up front for the stream of later income. Accordingly, the most sensible reading of the statute is that the exemption under sub. (3) (j) should not depend on whether the annuity is taxable in accordance with the IRC but rather whether the tax is deferred in accordance with the IRC. Wittman v. Koenig, 831 F.3d 416 (2016).

815.18 Annotation The referee did not abuse his discretion under s. 272.18 (30) (a) [now sub. (10)] in ruling that a debtor, by fraudulently concealing and transferring assets, forfeited any right to exemptions, only with respect to collection of trustee’s judgment. Ottusch v. Schroeder, 356 F. Supp. 417 (1973).

815.18 Annotation Updating Wisconsin’s Exemption Law. Ludwig & Pouros. Wis. Law. Aug. 1990.

815.19 815.19 Levy on personal property; appraisal.

815.19(1) (1) Personal property shall be bound from the time it is seized. Whenever personal property is seized on attachment or execution and any part of the property is exempt therefrom and the exemption is claimed by the debtor or the debtor’s spouse, the officer making the seizure shall, upon request by either of them, or may upon the officer’s motion, cause the exempt property to be appraised by 2 disinterested freeholders of the county, who shall first be sworn by the officer to make a true appraisement thereof, which appraisement shall be in writing, be signed by the appraisers and be prima facie evidence of the value of the property appraised. The appraisement, together with the true inventory of all the property seized, shall be returned with the writ. The fees of the appraisers are prescribed in s. 814.72.

815.19(2) (2) If the property seized is an automobile which is appraised and can be sold for more than $1,000 or if the property seized is a tractor used in farming operations which is appraised and can be sold for more than $1,500, the officer may sell such automobile or tractor and out of the proceeds of such sale the officer shall pay to the debtor or the debtor’s spouse the exempted value of such automobile or tractor. The balance of the proceeds of such sale shall be applied on the execution or attachment.

815.19 History History: Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 761 (1975); 1975 c. 94 s. 91 (3); 1975 c. 199; Stats. 1975 s. 815.19; 1979 c. 355; 1981 c. 317; 1983 a. 186.

815.195 815.195 Levy on real property; how made. Levy of execution on real property is made by endorsing on the execution a description of the property on which the levy was made, and recording the execution, so endorsed, in the office of the register of deeds.

815.195 History History: 1973 c. 189; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 761 (1975); Stats. 1975 s. 815.195; 1993 a. 301.

815.20 815.20 Homestead exemption definition.

815.20(1) (1) An exempt homestead as defined in s. 990.01 (14) selected by a resident owner and occupied by him or her shall be exempt from execution, from the lien of every judgment, and from liability for the debts of the owner to the amount of $75,000, except mortgages, laborers’, mechanics’, and purchase money liens and taxes and except as otherwise provided. The exemption shall not be impaired by temporary removal with the intention to reoccupy the premises as a homestead nor by the sale of the homestead, but shall extend to the proceeds derived from the sale to an amount not exceeding $75,000, while held, with the intention to procure another homestead with the proceeds, for 2 years. The exemption extends to land owned by husband and wife jointly or in common or as marital property, and each spouse may claim a homestead exemption of not more than $75,000. The exemption extends to the interest therein of tenants in common, having a homestead thereon with the consent of the cotenants, and to any estate less than a fee.

815.20(2) (2) Any owner of an exempt homestead against whom a judgment has been rendered and entered in the judgment and lien docket, and any heir, devisee, or grantee of the owner, or any mortgagee of the homestead, may proceed under s. 806.04 for declaratory relief if the homestead is less than $75,000 in value and the owner of the judgment shall fail, for 10 days after demand, to execute a recordable release of the homestead from the judgment owner’s judgment lien.

815.20 History History: 1973 c. 168; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 761, 781 (1975); Stats. 1975 s. 815.20; 1983 a. 186; 1985 a. 153; 1993 a. 486; 1995 a. 224; 2009 a. 80.

815.20 Annotation A defendant who has moved to Michigan intending to stay there loses the defendant’s Wisconsin homestead exemption. A defendant cannot have an exemption in two states. Plan Credit Corp. v. Swinging Singles, Inc., 54 Wis. 2d 146, 194 N.W.2d 822 (1972).

815.20 Annotation A vendee in a land contract has an interest sufficient to sustain a homestead exemption. The holder of a judgment lien is subject to a mortgage dated after the judgment. A homestead exemption does not depend on a formal claim to it. Occupancy at the time a lien attaches is sufficient. Lueptow v. Guptill, 56 Wis. 2d 396, 202 N.W.2d 255 (1972).

815.20 Annotation Rental income from a rented portion of a homestead is exempt under the homestead exemption. Schwanz v. Teper, 66 Wis. 2d 157, 223 N.W.2d 896 (1974).

815.20 Annotation Property purchased by a debtor subsequent to the docketing of a judgment and immediately occupied as a homestead becomes exempt to the extent of the statutory protection. Northern State Bank v. Toal, 69 Wis. 2d 50, 230 N.W.2d 153 (1975).

815.20 Annotation The homestead exemption may arise in a partition action. Reckner v. Reckner, 105 Wis. 2d 425, 314 N.W.2d 159 (Ct. App. 1981).

815.20 Annotation This section is a statutory expression of a public policy embodied in article I, section 17, of the Wisconsin Constitution that creditors should not be permitted to deprive a debtor of the necessary comforts of life. The homestead exemption is interpreted broadly to protect the homeowner. Reckner v. Reckner, 105 Wis. 2d 425, 314 N.W.2d 159 (Ct. App. 1981).

815.20 Annotation Homestead rights are no greater than the underlying property rights when those property rights have been limited by the owners themselves. Master Lock Credit Union v. Rayford, 119 Wis. 2d 301, 349 N.W.2d 737 (Ct. App. 1984).

815.20 Annotation Owners who permanently remove themselves from a home that is for sale with the intent of using the proceeds to procure another home are entitled to a homestead exemption in the sale proceeds. Moore v. Krueger, 179 Wis. 2d 449, 507 N.W.2d 155 (Ct. App. 1993).

815.20 Annotation Because a judgment lien was subject to the homestead exemption while a federal tax lien was not, the operation of the homestead exemption effectively subordinated the otherwise superior judgment lien to the status of a junior lien, which was discharged by operation of federal law by the execution of the Internal Revenue Service’s quitclaim deed after judicial sale. CVW, Ltd. v. Stress, 230 Wis. 2d 450, 602 N.W.2d 162 (Ct. App. 1999), 99-0252.

815.20 Annotation When equity in a homestead exceeds $40,000 [now $75,000], the homestead is partially exempt, and a docketed judgment is a lien upon the debtor’s equity in excess of the $40,000 [now $75,000]. If a debtor has less than $40,000 [now $75,000] in equity, the homestead is fully exempt, and the debtor has no interest to which a judgment lien may attach. Accordingly a debtor-seller can give clear title to the purchaser of fully exempt property. Rumage v. Gullberg, 2000 WI 53, 235 Wis. 2d 279, 611 N.W.2d 458, 98-1276.

815.20 Annotation An in-court oral stipulation could create a mortgage interest in property, but under s. 706.02 (1) (f), a homestead conveyance must bear the conveyors’ signatures. Because the stipulation lacked signatures, it was not a mortgage that could defeat the homestead exemption under sub. (1). Equitable Bank, S.S.B. v. Chabron, 2000 WI App 210, 238 Wis. 2d 708, 618 N.W.2d 262, 99-2639.

815.20 Annotation A homestead created and maintained with stolen or embezzled property, or by the wrongful appropriation of property rightly belonging to others, is not protected by the homestead exemption. Paulman v. Pemberton, 2001 WI App 164, 246 Wis. 2d 909, 633 N.W.2d 715, 98-3021.

815.20 Annotation To qualify for the homestead exemption in sub. (1), a debtor generally needs to own or lease property that the debtor in fact occupies as the debtor’s homestead. However, sub. (1) carves out two distinct circumstances in which the homestead exemption is not impaired despite a lack of occupancy by the owner for some identified period of time: 1) a temporary removal exception, which involves an owner’s intentionally transient absence from the homestead; and 2) the owner’s sale of the homestead with intent to use the proceeds to obtain a new homestead. The combined result of these two exceptions to the general occupancy requirement is that the exemption on a homestead is lost—in statutory terms, it is “impaired”—when the debtor removes herself or himself from a homestead with no intent either to reoccupy or to sell the house and use the proceeds to procure another homestead. Anderson v. Anderson Tooling, Inc., 2021 WI App 39, 398 Wis. 2d 595, 961 N.W.2d 911, 20-0898.

815.20 Annotation To preserve the homestead exemption under sub. (1), a debtor is not required to intend to “permanently” reoccupy the homestead. In this case, the judgment debtors’ temporary absences while actively looking for a potential homestead in Iowa to replace their Wisconsin homestead did not impair the exemption, even if they planned that their serial absences and reoccupancies of the Wisconsin property as their homestead would eventually end with the establishment of a new homestead, perhaps even in the near future. Anderson v. Anderson Tooling, Inc., 2021 WI App 39, 398 Wis. 2d 595, 961 N.W.2d 911, 20-0898.

815.20 Annotation Merely having a property right to what could become a new homestead if it were occupied as a homestead does not, on its own, lead to the establishment of a new homestead and the abandonment of an old one. Actual occupancy as a homestead is required. Anderson v. Anderson Tooling, Inc., 2021 WI App 39, 398 Wis. 2d 595, 961 N.W.2d 911, 20-0898.

815.20 Annotation A judgment debtor’s assertion of a homestead exemption generally establishes a presumption that the property is homestead property. A judgment creditor may rebut that presumption by showing that the debtor claiming the exemption does not occupy the claimed homestead, including for the reason that the debtor has established a new homestead before having sold the homestead on which the debtor claims the exemption. When a debtor ceases to occupy the premises of the claimed homestead, it is the debtor’s burden to show that the circumstances qualify for one of the two exceptions to impairment based on the debtor’s absence from the homestead. Anderson v. Anderson Tooling, Inc., 2021 WI App 39, 398 Wis. 2d 595, 961 N.W.2d 911, 20-0898.

815.20 Annotation The homestead exemption is void under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution to the extent that it impedes a federal court restitution order. United States v. Lampien, 89 F.3d 1316 (1996).

815.20 Annotation Establishment and Abandonment of a Wisconsin Homestead. Kreitler. 1973 WLR 876.

815.20 Annotation Judgment Lien Claimants’ Rights Against Homestead Exemption Interests: An Equitable Distribution of Mortgage Foreclosure Sale Proceeds. Steinmetz. 1981 WLR 697.

815.205 815.205 Certain property of spouse exempt from execution.

815.205(1) (1) Property described in s. 806.15 (4) (intro.) is exempt from execution on a judgment lien that attaches to that property under s. 806.15 (4) (b) if the property is not available under s. 766.55 to satisfy the obligation for which the judgment was rendered.

815.205(2) (2)