Settle a small estate in Wisconsin without probate

Transfer by Affidavit ($50,000 gross and under, Wis. Stat. 867.03)

Summary settlement of small estates (Wis. Stat. 867.01)

Summary assignment of small estates (Wis. Stat. 867.02)

What counts toward the limit in Wisconsin

For the Transfer by Affidavit, add up the gross value of all the person's property subject to administration in Wisconsin on the date of death. Do not subtract debts or mortgages. Include property that would be paid to the estate through a beneficiary designation. Leave out property that passes on its own, such as jointly owned property and benefits paid to a named beneficiary.

Law: Wis. Stat. 867.03

In this state the total is counted at full value, without subtracting debts.

Source: Official page

Car or vehicle title after a death in Wisconsin

If the person was the only owner, a surviving spouse or domestic partner can transfer up to five vehicles with form MV2300 and a title application (MV1), and there is no title fee for a spouse, domestic partner or qualifying family member. Another heir uses MV2300 to certify that the person had no solely owned property worth more than $50,000; the heir pays the title transfer fee. A spouse signing MV2300 becomes personally liable for the person's debts up to the value of the vehicles. Papers are mailed to the DMV.

Law: Wis. Stat. 342.14(3), 342.14(3m), 342.17(4)(b), 867.03 (as listed on form MV2300)

Agency

Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)

Form

MV2300 Statement of Transfer of Vehicles to or by a Surviving Family Member, Domestic Partner, or Heir

Fee

No title fee for a surviving spouse, domestic partner or qualifying family member. For other heirs, the DMV guide (BDS367, 6/2026) lists a $214.50 title transfer fee and a $20 replacement title fee if the title is lost.

Source: Official page

Bank accounts after a death in Wisconsin

Jointly owned accounts pass to the surviving owner, and accounts with a named beneficiary go to that beneficiary. For an account in the person's name alone, an heir, trustee or guardian (or the person named personal representative in the will) can give the bank a Transfer by Affidavit if the Wisconsin probate property is $50,000 gross or less. If the person or spouse received Medicaid or other listed benefits, a copy must first go to the DHS Estate Recovery Program by certified mail.

Law: Wis. Stat. 867.03

Source: Official page

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Wisconsin

Real estate (TOD deed)

Yes · Transfer on death deed (designation of beneficiary deed)

An owner can record a transfer on death (designation of beneficiary) deed before death. After the death, the beneficiary records a Termination of Decedent's Interest with the register of deeds, with a Real Estate Transfer Return receipt that cites the recorded beneficiary deed.

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Source: Official page

Surviving spouse in Wisconsin

A surviving spouse or domestic partner can transfer up to five of the person's vehicles through the DMV with form MV2300, with no title fee, and can use summary settlement for estates of $50,000 or less. Wisconsin is a marital property state: each spouse owns half of the marital property regardless of title, and the inventory must identify it.

Debts of the person in Wisconsin

A person who receives property by Transfer by Affidavit must use it to pay the person's debts in the order set by Wis. Stat. 859.25 and then give the rest to the beneficiaries or heirs. A spouse who takes vehicles with form MV2300 is personally liable for the person's debts up to the value of the vehicles.

Medicaid estate recovery in Wisconsin

DHS seeks repayment for long-term care and certain other services paid by Medicaid, Family Care and related programs. If the person or the spouse ever received Medicaid, Family Care or Partnership, Community Options Program, Wisconsin Chronic Disease Program benefits, or was a patient in a state or county institution, a copy of the Transfer by Affidavit must be sent to the Estate Recovery Program by certified mail before the property is collected or real estate is recorded. DHS does not collect while there is a surviving spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child, but may file a lien on real estate. For deaths on or after August 1, 2014, DHS can also recover from non-probate property such as joint and POD accounts, life estates and revocable trusts. Heirs can keep up to $5,000 of clothing, furniture and similar personal items. Hardship waivers can be requested.

Law: Wis. Stat. 867.03(1m); DHS Estate Recovery Program Handbook P-13032

Agency

Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Estate Recovery Program

Phone

608-264-6755

Official page

Official page

Who inherits with no will in Wisconsin

If there is a spouse and all the person's children are also the spouse's children, the spouse gets everything; if there are no children, the spouse also gets everything. If some children are not the spouse's, the spouse gets half of the person's property other than the person's share of marital property (and certain property held with the spouse), and the children share the rest. With no spouse, children share; then parents; then brothers and sisters; then grandparents' families. A domestic partner takes the place of a spouse.

Law: Wis. Stat. 852.01

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Wisconsin

Certified copies are available only to people with a direct and tangible interest in the record, with photo ID. The CDC Where to Write page lists $20 for the first copy and $3 for each extra copy ordered at the same time; customer service is 608-266-1373.

Where to get it

Wisconsin Vital Records Office (Department of Health Services)

Official page

Official page

Where to file in Wisconsin

The Transfer by Affidavit is not filed with a court: you give it to each bank or other holder, and for real estate you record it with the register of deeds in each county where the land is. Summary settlement and summary assignment are filed with the register in probate of the circuit court in the county where the person lived. Vehicle transfers are mailed to the Wisconsin DMV.

Good to know in Wisconsin

• Wisconsin's Transfer by Affidavit can transfer real estate, but heirs must get a copy and 30 days' notice before it is recorded unless they waive it.
• If the person or the spouse ever received Medicaid or certain other benefits, a copy of the affidavit must go to the DHS Estate Recovery Program by certified mail before any property is collected.
• The court system no longer keeps the Transfer by Affidavit form; the State Bar of Wisconsin maintains it.

National rules that apply in every state

Federal estate tax

• For a person who died in 2026, a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only if the gross estate, plus certain lifetime taxable gifts, is more than $15,000,000.
• Most estates owe no federal estate tax and do not need to file a federal estate tax return.

Law: 26 U.S.C. 2010(c)(3) (as amended by Pub. L. 119-21)

The final income tax return

• Report all income up to the date of death and claim all eligible credits and deductions.
• Someone must file the final federal income tax return of a person who died, the same way it would have been filed if they were alive.
• To claim a refund due to the person who died, attach Form 1310 (Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer).

Law: Form 1310 instructions (Rev. December 2025)

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Social Security

• Social Security retirement benefits are paid through the month before the month the person died.
• If the person had enough Social Security work credits (was fully or currently insured), a one-time death payment of $255 (or three times the person's basic benefit, if that is smaller) can be paid to a surviving spouse who lived with the person.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 402(a), 402(i)

Savings bonds

• If the person's savings bonds and other Treasury securities held directly with the Treasury are worth more than $100,000 at the date of death, the Treasury requires a court-administered estate.

Law: 31 CFR 353.71; FS Form 5336 (Rev. April 2026)

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Debts

• Debts are generally paid from the money and property the person left (the estate).
• If the estate cannot pay a debt and no one else shared responsibility for it, the debt may go unpaid.
• You may have to pay if you co-signed the loan, were a joint account holder on a credit card (not just an authorized user), or state law makes a spouse responsible for certain debts, such as in community property states or states with laws on necessary costs like health care.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.6(a)(4)

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A house with a mortgage

• For a home with fewer than five units, a lender may not call the whole loan due just because the home passes to a relative after the borrower's death, to a spouse or children who become owners, or to a surviving joint owner.
• Https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-mortgage-information-about-a-home-i-inherited-en-217/
• Https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/i-recently-inherited-a-house-the-mortgage-lender-said-its-required-to-determine-my-ability-to-repay-before-it-will-let-me-take-over-the-mortgage-loan-is-this-true-en-1939/

Law: 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)(3), (5), (6); 12 CFR 1024.30(d), 1024.31

FDIC insurance on bank accounts

• After a deposit owner dies, FDIC insurance on the account stays the same for six months, unless the account is restructured.

Law: 12 CFR 330.3(j)

Medicaid estate recovery

• States must try to recover some Medicaid costs from the estate of a person who got benefits at age 55 or older: nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services.
• The 'estate' includes at least the property in the person's probate estate under state law.
• Https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/42/1396p?type=usc&year=mostrecent&link-type=html

Law: 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)

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Death certificates

• Certified copies of a death certificate come from the vital records office of the state where the death happened, not from the federal government.

Questions about small estates in Wisconsin