853.34 Transfers to testamentary trusts.

(1) Testamentary transfer to trust of another. A transfer or appointment by will shall not be held invalid because it is made to a trust created, or to be created, under the will of another person if the will of such other person was executed, or was last modified with respect to the terms of such trust, prior to the death of the person making the transfer or appointment and such other person's will is admitted to probate prior to, or within 2 years after, the death of the person making the transfer or appointment. Property included in such a transfer or appointment shall not be considered property subject to administration as part of the other person's estate but shall pass directly to that other person's testamentary trustee, be added to the designated trust and administered as a part thereof.

(2) Invalid testamentary transfer. If such a transfer or appointment by will is not accepted by the testamentary trustee of such other person or if no will of such other person which meets the conditions specified in sub. (1) is admitted to probate within the period therein limited, and if the will containing such transfer or appointment by will makes no alternative disposition of the assets, the will shall be construed as creating a trust upon the terms contained in the documents constituting the will of such other person as of the date of death of the person making the transfer or appointment by will.

(3) Assets transferred to trusts created by will. If a trustee of a trust created by a testator's will is designated as the beneficiary of a transfer under another governing instrument, as defined in s. 854.01 (2), at the death of the testator or at the death of a 3rd party, the transfer of any assets under that other governing instrument to the trustee does not cause the transferred assets to be included in the property administered as part of the testator's estate. The transferred assets are not subject to taxes, debts, or charges enforceable against the testator's estate to any greater extent than if the proceeds were payable to a beneficiary other than the testator's estate.

History: 1971 c. 66; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 777 (1975); 1975 c. 218; 1987 a. 27; 1989 a. 278; 1991 a. 316; 2013 a. 92 ss. 153, 154, 331; Stats. 2013 s. 853.34.