Waukesha County Recorder Information

Land records in Waukesha County are recorded by the Register of Deeds. The office is held by James R. Behrend.

Searching and viewing documents online is free. The database has documents fully indexed that were recorded on or before January 1, 1994, and has images of all documents that haven't been indexed going back to the early 1800s. Searching by owner name is not provided online. The free Recording Notification Service emails subscribers when a document is recorded against a registered parcel.

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: Wisconsin Legislature: 59.43 · Register of Deeds | Waukesha County · Land Records Document Copies | Waukesha County

These government fees are separate from any Deeds.com service fees. Confirm current charges with the recorder's office.

Other charges

StatewideCopies of recorded documents are $2 for the first page plus $1 for each additional page of each document. Recording a cemetery plat, subdivision plat, or condominium plat is $50. Of each $30 recording fee, $15 is submitted to the Department of Administration for land record modernization, less up to $8 a qualifying county may retain (Wis. Stat. § 59.72(5)).

Copies purchased online carry an additional $5.00 convenience fee and $2.00 processing fee. Certified copies must be purchased in person or by mail.

Paying the office

StatewideFees are payable in advance by the party procuring the services of the register of deeds; fees for services to a state department, board, or commission or a contracting person may be invoiced.

Recording fees are payable by check or money order only; no cash, credit, or debit. Any transfer fee due on the RETR is included with the payment at the time of recording. Copies purchased in person may be paid by cash, check, or credit/debit card.

Transfer tax

Real estate transfer fee. 30 cents for each $100 of value or fraction thereof. The tax is collected when the document is recorded. (statewide, Wis. Stat. § 77.22(1))

StatewideThe register collects the fee when the conveyance is submitted for recording and enters the fee paid on the face of the instrument. Except as provided in s. 77.255, a completed real estate transfer return and payment of the fee are prerequisites to acceptance for recording. Exemptions are listed in s. 77.25, and an exempt conveyance must state the reason for exemption on its face by reference to the subsection of s. 77.25. Twenty percent of fees collected is retained by the county (s. 77.24). No city, village, town, or county may impose a fee on a conveyance exempt under s. 77.25 (s. 77.256).

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: Wisconsin Legislature: 59.43 · Wisconsin Legislature: 77.22 · Land Records Document Copies | Waukesha County · Recording | Waukesha County

Confirm current requirements with the recorder's office before submitting documents.

StatewideTop margin of each page is 0.5 inch; company logos may appear within it. The first page must have a blank space of at least 3 inches by 3 inches in the upper right corner, within the margins, for recording information. A document without this space may not be recorded.

StatewideThe register of deeds may refuse to record a document that does not substantially comply with the standard format. The document name must be clear and located not less than 0.5 inch nor more than 6 inches from the top of the first page. Multiple pages may not be hinged or otherwise joined completely at the top or sides. The document must be legible when copied or scanned. A register of deeds may not record a document that contains an individual's social security number, subject to statutory exceptions. A county that requires parcel identification numbers may require one for each parcel affected.

Documents containing full color images will be rejected, because scanned documents are converted to 1-bit (black and white) color depth. Documents containing more than 200 pages must be eRecorded. The parcel identifier number is placed directly under the return address. eRecorded images must be black-and-white .tiff files scanned at a minimum of 300 dpi, no more than 10 documents per package.

Forms filed along with a transfer

• Wisconsin Electronic Real Estate Transfer Return (eRETR) Statewide Wisconsin Department of Revenue
  Executed at the time a conveyance is submitted for recording, except as provided in s. 77.255; filed electronically

Submitting documents

StatewideDocuments are recorded in the order received and endorsed with the date, hour, and minute of recording. Except as provided in any agreement with the submitter, documents left for recording are delivered to the recipient the submitter authorizes, once the submitter provides adequate postage. A register of deeds may return unrecorded an entire group of related documents identified as a single transaction if one of them may be refused.

Effective May 1, 2026, documents submitted without a valid and legible email address or a self-addressed stamped envelope will be rejected. Only original documents are accepted; copies are not. Document and payment must be submitted together in an envelope with contact information. Plats of survey may also be emailed as multi-page PDF or TIF files.

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: Wisconsin Legislature: 59.43 · Wisconsin Legislature: 77.22 · Wisconsin Legislature: 59.43(2m) · Recording | Waukesha County · Electronic Recording (eRecording) Information | Waukesha County · Recordable Documents | Waukesha County · Document Recording Instructions (June 2026)