Knowledge & Resources
Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
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Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
Wisconsin caps what a witness can inherit at their intestate share, and the cap catches the witness's spouse as well.
A Wisconsin will must be in writing and signed by the testator, by the testator with another person's assistance and consent, or in the testator's name by another person at the testator's direction and in the testator's conscious presence. It must then be signed by at least two witnesses, who sign within a reasonable time after the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of it.
Wis. Stat. § 853.03
No. Section 853.03 requires two witnesses, not a notary, and notarizing a Wisconsin will does not substitute for them. A notary appears only in a separate self-proving affidavit.
Wis. Stat. § 853.03
A Wisconsin will is not invalidated because an interested witness signed it. But gifts to a witness, or to a witness's spouse, are invalid to the extent they exceed what that person would have received had you died without a will, valued at your death. The cap reaching the witness's spouse makes a married couple witnessing together a particular trap. It does not apply where the will is also signed by enough disinterested witnesses.
Wis. Stat. § 853.07
Any person of sound mind 18 years of age or older may make and revoke a will in Wisconsin.
Wis. Stat. § 853.01
Wis. Stat. § 853.03 (Execution of wills). Signed by at least two witnesses who signed within a reasonable time after the signing of the will, the testator's acknowledgment of their signature, or the testator's acknowledgment of the will, in the conscious presence of the witness.
Links last checked 2026-08-25.
We could not read this statute at its official source, so the summary above is provisional. Confirm it before relying on it.
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it has not been reviewed by an attorney licensed in Wisconsin. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
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