Free Wisconsin Postnuptial Agreement Template

A Wisconsin postnuptial agreement is what state law calls a marital property agreement. Wisconsin’s marital property law lets spouses agree on their property rights, management, and disposition in a document both of them sign.

A Document Signed by Both Spouses

A marital property agreement must be a document signed by both spouses, and only the spouses may be parties. It’s enforceable without consideration (Wis. Stat. § 766.58(1)).

What It Can Cover

Spouses may agree on rights in either spouse’s property, whenever and wherever acquired. They can also cover management and control, disposition at dissolution or death, modification or elimination of spousal support, and making a will or trust to carry out the agreement (Wis. Stat. § 766.58(3)).

Transfers at Death Without Probate

A marital property agreement can provide that, at a spouse’s death, property passes without probate to a designated person, trust, or other entity. That provision is revoked if the marriage is dissolved (Wis. Stat. § 766.58(3)(f)).

Limits

The agreement can’t adversely affect a child’s right to support (Wis. Stat. § 766.58(2)). Also, modifying or eliminating spousal support during the marriage can’t leave a spouse with less than necessary and adequate support, considering all sources (Wis. Stat. § 766.58(9)).

The statute addresses this directly. If counsel is retained, the fact that both spouses share one lawyer, or that only one spouse has a lawyer, doesn’t by itself make a marital property agreement unconscionable or otherwise affect its enforceability (Wis. Stat. § 766.58(8)).

That doesn’t mean shared counsel is always wise. A court still decides unconscionability as a matter of law under the same subsection. So consider separate advice for your Wisconsin postnuptial agreement, especially when the spouses’ interests differ.

Take these steps for a Wisconsin postnuptial agreement:

1. Decide what to cover: ownership, management, support, or disposition at death.
2. List property owned by each spouse, whenever it was acquired.
3. Consider a nonprobate transfer at death, and who should receive property.
4. Check support terms. Make sure no spouse is left without adequate support during the marriage.
5. Decide on counsel. Choose shared or separate lawyers, knowing the statute’s rule.
6. Both spouses sign the document.

Plan for these sections:

• Property classification — rights in each spouse’s property
• Management terms — who controls which assets
• Disposition provisions — at dissolution, death, or other events
• Nonprobate transfer terms — if property should pass without probate
• Execution block — both spouses sign and date