Wisconsin Quitclaim Deed (Trustee Grantor)

A Wisconsin trustee cannot hand out title covenants, and one line of the Trust Code says so: under Wis. Stat. § 701.0815(3) a trustee has no power to give warranties in a sale that are binding on the trustee personally. This form prepares the deed that fits inside that rule: a Wisconsin quitclaim deed signed by a trustee conveying trust real estate, with the fiduciary capacity stated in the instrument and no warranty of title.

A deed on its way out of a trust

Legal title to trust real estate sits with the trustee, so the deed carrying it out is signed by the trustee, names the trust behind that signature, and recites that the grantor acts as trustee and not individually. Wis. Stat. § 701.0815(1)(b)1 gives a trustee an owner's powers over trust property, and § 701.0816(2) names the power to sell it at public or private sale. The conveyance runs on Wis. Stat. § 706.10(4), under which a quitclaim deed passes the interest the grantor could lawfully convey and neither warrants nor implies the existence, quantity, or quality of that interest. Beneficiaries and buyers search for the instrument as a trustee quitclaim deed, a quit claim deed from a trust, or a deed out of a living trust.

Capacity that is disclosed rather than assumed

The capacity language in Section 11 does statutory work. Wis. Stat. § 701.1010(1) provides that a trustee is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in the trustee's fiduciary capacity if the trustee in the contract disclosed that capacity, so the printed disclosure does more than describe the signer. The acknowledgment follows the same logic into chapter 140, where Wis. Stat. § 140.16(2) supplies the representative capacity short form: the officer certifies that a named individual acknowledged the record as the stated type of authority, such as trustee, of the party on whose behalf it was executed. The trust's own terms stay out of the deed and reach a title company through a certification of trust under Wis. Stat. § 701.1013, which a trustee signs separately and is not included here.

What this configuration carries

The form recites one trustee as grantor, the trust identified by name and by the date of its instrument, a grantee section closing with a co-ownership designation line, a transfer fee line, and a conditional homestead block for a spouse joining under Wis. Stat. § 706.02(1)(f). A successor trustee distributing a residence to the beneficiary entitled to it, a trustee releasing a parcel back out of a revocable trust during the settlor's life, and a trustee moving a rental parcel into another trust all present the pattern this deed recites. The configuration is not drawn for cotrustees who act together, for a corporate trustee signing through an officer, for a personal representative or a guardian, or for a conveyance carrying the warranty covenants of Wis. Stat. § 706.10(5).

Exemption 9, and the money at the counter

A conveyance from a trustee to a beneficiary without actual consideration escapes the Wisconsin real estate transfer fee under Wis. Stat. § 77.25(9), and Section 5 is the labeled line naming that subsection, which Wis. Stat. § 77.22(1) makes a condition of recording. A sale out of a trust pays the fee instead, 30 cents for each $100 of value. The electronic transfer return travels with the deed either way, because § 77.255 releases only conveyances exempt under § 77.25(1) or (10m) from filing one. The register of deeds collects the flat $30 document fee of Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2)(ag)1.

Format, and what the record protects

The instrument is drawn to the standard format of Wis. Stat. § 59.43(2m): 20 pound white paper, the upper right three inch square of page one blank for the register, the document name and return information high on that page, the drafter statement of § 59.43(5)(a), and a parcel number line for counties that require one. Format failure in Wisconsin brings refusal rather than a surcharge, though a document once accepted and properly indexed counts as recorded under § 59.43(6)(b). Priority then follows the record under the race notice rule of § 706.08(1)(a).

The download holds three files: this quitclaim deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example filled in for a La Crosse County distribution from a successor trustee to a trust beneficiary, and a plain language guide covering every blank, the execution rules, and the recording package. The material describes Wisconsin law in general terms for information and is not legal advice.