Maintenance And Property
Wis. Stat. 767.61 — property presumed divided equally, gifts and inheritances kept
Equal, by presumption. The court presumes that all property, other than what is set aside below, is divided equally between the spouses. It may alter that, without regard to marital misconduct, after considering the length of the marriage, what each brought to it, each one's contribution including homemaking and child care, health, earning capacity and the other factors the section lists.
Gifts and inheritances stay. Property either spouse got, before or during the marriage, as a gift from someone other than the other spouse, by reason of someone's death, including inheritance and life insurance, or with funds from those, stays that spouse's and is not divided, unless refusing to divide it would create a hardship for the other spouse or the children.
The court may order maintenance to either spouse for a limited or indefinite time after considering the length of the marriage, age and health, the property division, education, earning capacity, the prospect of becoming self-supporting at a comparable standard of living, taxes, agreements between the spouses, and contributions to the other's education or earning power.
Maintenance ends at the death of either the payer or the payee, whichever comes first, if it has not ended sooner.
Sources for this section (2)
- Wis. Stat. 767.61 — Property division
- Wis. Stat. 767.56 — Maintenance
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Wisconsin attorney.