Wisconsin route screening
Section 867.03 permits transfer by affidavit when property subject to administration in Wisconsin does not exceed $50,000 in gross value. This is distinct from § 867.01 court summary settlement, which has a $50,000 net-of-secured-debt family route and a separate route keyed to priority costs, allowances, and claims; the two procedures and value bases must not be conflated.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
Threshold evidence and currency
Currency: No later session-law supersession is recorded in the reviewed source set for this threshold. The edition/currentness label below is the basis for the published figure.
Controlling citation: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — 2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2025 Wis. Act 247 and through all Supreme Court Orders and Controlled Substances Board Orders filed before and in effect on September 4, 2026. Published and certified under s. 35.18. Changes effective after September 4, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 9-4-26).
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
867.03 Transfer by affidavit. 867.03(1c) (1c) Definition. In this section, "guardian" has the meaning given in s. 54.01 (10) or s. 880.01 (3) , 2003 stats. 867.03(1g) (1g) Generally. Except as provided in sub. (1h) and subject to subs. (1j) and (1p) , when a decedent leaves property subject to administration in this state that does not exceed $50,000 in gross value, any heir of the decedent, trustee of a revocable trust created by the decedent, a person named in the will to act as personal representative, or person who was guardian of the decedent at the time of the decedent's death may collect any money due the decedent, receive the property of the decedent, and have any evidence of interest, obligation to, or right of the decedent transferred to the affiant if the heir, trustee, person named in the will to act as personal representative, or guardian provides to the person owing the
The headline limit is not a count of everything the person owned. It is a test of the property and deductions named by this procedure. Classify title and beneficiary status first; property that transfers by a valid survivorship right, beneficiary designation, or funded trust follows its own transfer path.
This screen counts the probate estate within the statute’s stated scope, not merely cash accounts. Solely owned real property can therefore affect the amount test. That does not necessarily mean the same simplified procedure transfers the house; counting scope and transfer authority are separate questions.
The reviewed value basis is gross for this route. The tool does not subtract a mortgage or other lien from the amount test unless the cited rule says to do so.
No waiting-period number is published because it has not been verified to the same primary-source standard as the threshold.
Assemble the death date, will status, asset titles, beneficiary confirmations, values, enforceable liens, family facts, and any prior court filing before signing anything. Then use the court publisher’s current artifact for the selected route.
Wisconsin publishes statewide probate forms, including PR-1831 for the affidavit track.
Probate jurisdiction is in Circuit Court; use the statewide circuit-court directory for county contact details.
If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the Circuit Court or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
Wisconsin eligibility map
The Wisconsin threshold is one screen, not a complete legal conclusion. This map pairs the recorded ceiling with the property scope, deductions, date, and court artifact that have to be checked before relying on a likely-qualifies result.
| Question | Recorded Wisconsin answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Transfer by affidavit | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $50,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | No waiting-period number verified; The court sets a deadline 3–4 months from its order, while special rules apply to creditors lacking notice and an outer administration limit appears elsewhere; one number would collapse different triggers. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | 1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total. | Ask the Circuit Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Subject to court approval, the default is 2% of inventory value for accountable property less mortgages or liens plus net principal gains. A written agreement may set another rate; the court may add reasonable sums for unusual difficulty or extraordinary services and may reduce or deny compensation for dereliction. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Eligibility inputs
A threshold is useful only when the amount is measured the way the source describes. Keep this table with the asset worksheet so an empty or misclassified field cannot look like a confirmed qualification.
| Input | Registry record |
|---|---|
| Threshold | $50,000 |
| Property scope | probate property within the rule's stated scope |
| Value basis | gross value for this route |
| Waiting period | No waiting-period number verified |
| Required extra facts | None listed in the registry |
Case-file context
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Wisconsin descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Through October 31, 2026, opening an estate proceeding costs 0.2% of the value of property subject to administration less encumbrances, liens, or charges, with an effective $20 minimum at $10,000 or less and no stated cap. Effective November 1, 2026, Act 179 changes the low band to $36 at $18,500 or less; that future schedule is not treated as operative on August 9.
1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.
Subject to court approval, the default is 2% of inventory value for accountable property less mortgages or liens plus net principal gains. A written agreement may set another rate; the court may add reasonable sums for unusual difficulty or extraordinary services and may reduce or deny compensation for dereliction.
Subject to court approval, the default is 2% of inventory value for accountable property less mortgages or liens plus net principal gains. A written agreement may set another rate; the court may add reasonable sums for unusual difficulty or extraordinary services and may reduce or deny compensation for dereliction. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
The court sets a deadline 3–4 months from its order, while special rules apply to creditors lacking notice and an outer administration limit appears elsewhere; one number would collapse different triggers.
Court-material note: Wisconsin publishes statewide probate forms, including PR-1831 for the affidavit track. Probate jurisdiction is in Circuit Court; use the statewide circuit-court directory for county contact details.
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Wisconsin ceiling is $50,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $37,500 sits below the Wisconsin figure and $62,500 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Wisconsin counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Wisconsin ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $37,500 | Below $50,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $62,500 | Above $50,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
Wisconsin publishes statewide probate forms, including PR-1831 for the affidavit track.
Probate jurisdiction is in Circuit Court; use the statewide circuit-court directory for county contact details.
Source trail
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: 867.03 Transfer by affidavit. 867.03(1c) (1c) Definition. In this section, "guardian" has the meaning given in s. 54.01 (10) or s. 880.01 (3) , 2003 stats. 867.03(1g) (1g) Generally. Except as provided in sub. (1h) and subject to subs. (1j) and (1p) , when a decedent leaves property subject to administration in this state that does not exceed $50,000 in gross value, any heir of the decedent, trustee of a revocable trust created by the decedent, a person named in the will to act as personal representative, or person who was guardian of the decedent at the time of the decedent's death may collect any money due the decedent, receive the property of the decedent, and have any evidence of interest, obligation to, or right of the decedent transferred to the affiant if the heir, trustee, person named in the will to act as personal representative, or guardian provides to the person owing the