A Wisconsin marital settlement agreement is a written document in which spouses record how they will handle property, support, children, and other personal matters when their marriage ends. Wisconsin law lets spouses in a divorce or legal separation action stipulate for these matters, subject to the approval of the court.[1] Our free marital settlement agreement Wisconsin form is below. Fill it out online or download the PDF.
Last Updated: October 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current Wisconsin law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
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The spouses decide what goes into their own document, so every part can be adjusted to your situation. The FormsPal divorce template runs eight pages and has 18 numbered sections. It also has a signature page and a notary acknowledgment page. Every section is a blank to fill in, so you can complete all of them or leave out terms that do not apply.
| Part of the template | Sections | What you fill in |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 1.1 to 1.3 | The names of both spouses, the purpose of the agreement, and the effective date |
| Disclosures | 2.1 to 2.4 | Each spouse's separate property, the financial disclosure, and the informed consent statement |
| Children | 3.1 to 3.7 | Each child's name, date of birth, and Social Security number, where each child lives, and the custody and visitation schedules |
| Child support | 4.1 and 4.2 | Which parent pays, how much, and how often |
| Spousal support | 5.1 and 5.2 | Which spouse pays, how much, and on what schedule |
| Residence | 6 | The address of the family home and who keeps it |
| Debts and expenses | 7 | The obligations each spouse agrees to pay |
| Personal property | 8 | The items that go to each spouse |
| Insurance | 9 | The life, health, and other policies each spouse maintains |
| Closing terms | 10 to 18 | Amendments, binding effect, severability, governing law, change of residence, other instruments, acknowledgments, confidentiality, and counterparts |
| Signatures and notary | Pages 7 and 8 | Each spouse signs, and a notary public completes the acknowledgment |
Read section 1.3 of the template before you sign. Under its own terms, the document takes effect on the date of signature, but only if the marriage actually ends. If the dissolution does not take place, the document is null and void.
Section 767.34 of the Wisconsin Statutes lets the parties in an annulment, divorce, or legal separation action stipulate on key family matters, subject to the approval of the court in their case.[1] Section 767.61 covers how the court divides property.[2] The sections below explain what each one says.
Under Section 767.34, the parties may stipulate for:
If both spouses state under oath or affirmation that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or if they have voluntarily lived apart continuously for 12 months or more immediately before the action starts and one of them says so, the court, after a hearing, finds that the marriage is irretrievably broken (Section 767.315 of the Wisconsin Statutes).[3]
A divorce or legal separation action can be brought only if at least one spouse has been a bona fide resident of the county where it is filed for at least 30 days before it starts. A divorce also requires that at least one spouse has been a bona fide resident of Wisconsin for at least 6 months before the action starts (Section 767.301).[4]
An action for divorce or legal separation cannot be brought to a final hearing or trial until 120 days after the respondent is served with the summons and petition or 120 days after a joint petition is filed, unless the court orders an immediate hearing for emergency reasons (Section 767.335 of the Wisconsin Statutes).[6]
Under Section 767.34, the spouses' stipulation is subject to the approval of the court. The statute also limits what a court may approve. It says:
A court may not approve a stipulation for a division of property that assigns substantially all of the property to one of the parties in the action if the other party in the action is in the process of applying for medical assistance under subch. IV of ch. 49 or if the court determines that it can be reasonably anticipated that the other party in the action will apply for medical assistance under subch. IV of ch. 49 within 30 months of the stipulation.
In plain words, a court may not approve a stipulated property division that gives substantially all of the property to one spouse when the other spouse is applying for medical assistance. The same limit applies when the court can reasonably anticipate that the other spouse will apply within 30 months of the stipulation.[1]
Section 767.61 says the court must divide the property of the parties when it enters a judgment of annulment, divorce, or legal separation. The court presumes that property subject to division is to be divided equally between the parties. It may alter that distribution, without regard to marital misconduct, after considering the factors the statute lists.[2]
The same section covers a written agreement the parties made before or during the marriage about how property is distributed. Such an agreement binds the court, unless its terms are inequitable to either party. The court presumes any such agreement to be equitable as to both parties.[2]
Subject to a statutory exception, property shown to have been acquired by either party in certain ways remains the property of that party. This applies to property acquired before or during the marriage in the ways Section 767.61 specifies. It is not subject to division under that section.[2]
The exception is hardship. The court may divest the party of the property in a fair and equitable manner. It may do so if it finds that refusing to divide the property would create a hardship on the other party or on the children of the marriage.[2]
When a divorce judgment affects title to real property, the paperwork does not end with the judgment. Section 767.61 says a certified copy of the part of the judgment affecting title to real property, or a deed consistent with the judgment, must be recorded. The record goes in the office of the register of deeds of the county where the real property is located.[2]
Keep this in mind when your agreement says who keeps the family home or other land.
Popular Local Marital Settlement Agreement Forms
Even though it is not compulsory to draft a marital settlement agreement, doing this may give you particular perks: a lot more confidence in your post-marital life and significantly less pain in court. Here is a number of this sort of local agreements Googled the most by our readers.
A settlement document works best when it answers the questions spouses would otherwise argue about later. Talk through each topic below before you fill in the form. Write down the numbers and dates both parties agree on, and keep the wording plain so that both parties read it the same way.
Couples often weigh each spouse's age, health, income, and ability to become self-supporting, along with the length of the marriage. Section 5 of the template then records the amount in dollars, the payment schedule, and the end date.
On a judgment of divorce, annulment or legal separation, the court may order maintenance payments to either spouse for a limited or indefinite length of time after considering the factors listed in Section 767.56 of the Wisconsin Statutes.[5]
While a divorce case is pending, the court may make a temporary order requiring either spouse to pay maintenance to the other (Section 767.225 of the Wisconsin Statutes).[7]
If you have a child or children, the document can say where they live and how much time each parent spends with them. Many parents work out a monthly child support amount by looking at the number of children, each parent's earnings, medical costs, and parenting time. Sections 3 and 4 of the template are built for these terms.
In a divorce where legal custody or physical placement is contested, a party seeking legal custody or physical placement must file a proposed parenting plan with the court if the court waives mediation or mediation ends without an agreement, unless the court orders otherwise (Section 767.41 of the Wisconsin Statutes).[8] The court may also order the parties to attend a court-approved class on child development and how parental separation affects a child (Section 767.401).[9]
The court determines child support by using the percentage standard established by the department under Section 49.22(9) of the Wisconsin Statutes. On a party's request, the court may change that amount if it finds by the greater weight of the credible evidence that the standard is unfair to the child or to a party (Section 767.511 of the Wisconsin Statutes).[10]
Say who keeps each item and who pays each debt. A complete list usually includes:
FormsPal helps you prepare the settlement document, not the court filings. The divorce process has its own court forms, fees, and steps that can change, so ask your local court clerk what to file before you go. The steps below cover the document itself, from gathering information to signing.
These answers draw on Sections 767.34 and 767.61 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the same sources listed at the bottom of the page. Use them as general information about the divorce process, then check the statute text for your own situation.
A marital settlement agreement is a written agreement in which spouses settle the terms of their separation or divorce. In Wisconsin, the parties in an annulment, divorce, or legal separation action may stipulate for a division of property, for maintenance payments, for the support of children, or for legal custody and physical placement.[1]
Yes. Under Section 767.34, the stipulation is subject to the approval of the court. A court also may not approve a stipulated property division that assigns substantially all of the property to one party in the medical assistance situations the statute describes.[1]
Yes, unless its terms are inequitable. Section 767.61 says a written agreement made by the parties before or during the marriage about property distribution is binding upon the court, except where its terms are inequitable as to either party. The court presumes such an agreement to be equitable as to both parties.[2]
It depends on how the property was acquired. Section 767.61 sets two rules:
Both rules come from the same section.[2]
Section 767.61 says the court must divide the property of the parties when it enters a divorce judgment.[2] Spouses who agree on who keeps the family home can record the address and the decision in section 6 of the template. The stipulation is still subject to the approval of the court.[1]
Other Marital Settlement Agreement Forms by State
General information, not legal or tax advice.
Unless noted otherwise, the sources below are from the Wis. Stat.
