Wisconsin Quitclaim Deed (Interspousal)

The receiving spouse signs this deed too, and that second signature does statutory work: Wis. Stat. § 766.31(10) counts a conveyance signed by both spouses among the ways Wisconsin spouses may reclassify their property, so an interspousal quitclaim deed that states a classification collects both names at the bottom. This form prepares that instrument for Wisconsin real estate, one married person conveying an interest to that person's spouse, without warranty.

The one conveyance Wisconsin's spousal signature rule excepts

Wisconsin ordinarily wants both names when homestead property moves. Wis. Stat. § 706.02(1)(f) invalidates a conveyance unless it is signed, or joined in by separate conveyance, by or on behalf of each spouse where the conveyance alienates any interest of a married person in a homestead, and the same paragraph then carves out conveyances between spouses in those words. A deed running from one spouse straight to the other sits inside that carve out, so this form has no joinder block and no conditional signature line to leave blank, and the homestead character of the property under Wis. Stat. § 706.01(7) does not change the signature set. What the exception does not soften is the quitclaim arithmetic: under Wis. Stat. § 706.10(4) the deed passes the interest the grantor could lawfully convey and warrants nothing about its existence, quantity, or quality, so liens, easements, and restrictions of record ride through the transfer.

Why the receiving spouse still signs

Chapter 766 is the reason. Wisconsin's marital property system is a form of community property under Wis. Stat. § 766.001(2), all property of spouses is presumed marital under Wis. Stat. § 766.31(2), and each spouse holds a present undivided one-half interest in each item of marital property under Wis. Stat. § 766.31(3). Moving record title from one spouse to the other leaves the classification question standing, and Wis. Stat. § 766.31(10) answers it: spouses may reclassify by gift, by a conveyance as defined in Wis. Stat. § 706.01(4) signed by both spouses, by marital property agreement, by written consent, or by unilateral statement. This form is drawn for the second of those. Section 7 takes the classification the spouses state, and printed text in Section 9 keeps the grantee's signature from reading years later as a conveyance or a covenant nobody made.

What this configuration carries

The form recites one grantor spouse and one grantee spouse, a printed statement of the marriage between them, the conveyance section, the classification section, two signature blocks, and a Wis. Stat. § 140.16(1) short form certificate under each signature. With a single grantee named, record title lands in that spouse's name alone, which narrows the ch. 766 title forms to the ones one name can carry: the individual property designation of Wis. Stat. § 766.60(3), which the completed example states, or no stated classification, leaving ch. 766 to classify the property apart from the deed. The two name forms are out of reach here, and Wis. Stat. § 766.60(5)(a) says plainly that a marital property form alone establishes no survivorship. Wisconsin records carry the instrument under several names, among them interspousal deed, spousal quitclaim deed, and quit claim deed to a spouse. The form is not drawn for a grantor conveying to anyone other than that grantor's spouse, for a grantee side that names both spouses, or for a signer acting as an agent, a trustee, or a personal representative.

No transfer fee, and a return anyway

A conveyance between spouses names exemption 8m of Wis. Stat. § 77.25 on the face of the instrument, a recording condition imposed by Wis. Stat. § 77.22(1), and Section 5 is the labeled line built for that entry. The electronic transfer return is a separate obligation that outlives the exemption, because Wis. Stat. § 77.255 waives the return for conveyances exempt under Wis. Stat. § 77.25(1) or (10m) alone. At the counter the register of deeds collects the flat $30 document fee of Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2)(ag)1, and the instrument itself is drawn to the standard format of Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2m): the first page recording square left empty, the document name high on page one, return information on that page, and the drafter statement required by Wis. Stat. § 59.43(5)(a).

The download holds the interspousal quitclaim deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example filled in for a transfer between spouses in Racine County, and a plain language guide covering every blank, the execution rules, and the recording package. These materials describe Wisconsin law in general terms and are informational; they are not legal advice.