Wisconsin timeline
Wisconsin probate timeline and creditor deadlines
The waiting-period requirement has not been verified, so no number is published below.
Wisconsin creditor deadlines are set out below against the event each one runs from.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
The one date this page can source
No waiting-period number is published for the transfer by affidavit route. Section 867.03 states no universal wait from death; it instead contains a conditional 30-day hold after receipt for some affiants named in a will, so one waitingDays number would mislead. Read: Wis. Stat. § 867.03(1j).
867.03 Transfer by affidavit. 867.03(1c) (1c) Definition. In this section, "guardian" has the meaning given in s. 54.01 (10) or s. 880.01 (3) , 2003 stats. 867.03(1g) (1g) Generally. Except as provided in sub. (1h) and subject to subs. (1j) and (1p) , when a decedent leaves property subject to administration in this state that does not exceed $50,000 in gross value, any heir of the decedent, trustee of a revocable trust created by the decedent, a person named in the will to act as personal representative, or person who was guardian of the decedent at the time of the decedent's death may collect any money due the decedent, receive the property of the decedent, and have any evidence of interest, obligation to, or right of the decedent transferred to the affiant if the heir, trustee, person named in the will to act as personal representative, or guardian provides to the person owing theWis. Stat. § 867.03 — Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau; 2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2025 Wis. Act 247 and through all Supreme Court Orders and Controlled Substances Board Orders filed before and in effect on October 1, 2026. Published and certified under s. 35.18. Changes effective after October 1, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 10-1-26).
Creditor deadlines
- From publication of notice to creditors
- Publication supplies notice of the court-set final day; § 859.01 itself measures the deadline from the order, not publication.
- From actual notice to a known creditor
- A creditor without timely notice may use § 859.48: within one year after death and within 30 days after the earlier of notice or actual knowledge.
- From appointment of the representative
- Application for administration triggers the court or registrar’s deadline order; the date is 3–4 months from that order.
- Outer limit, running from death
- The harvested chapter cross-references a six-year death-based bar in § 893.93(1)(c), but that separate section was not harvested and is not asserted as a shipped number.
How these combine. The court sets a deadline 3–4 months from its order, while special rules apply to creditors lacking notice and an outer administration limit appears elsewhere; one number would collapse different triggers.
859.01 Time for filing claims. When an application for administration is filed, the court, or the probate registrar under informal administration proceedings, shall by order set a date as the deadline for filing a claim against the decedent's estate. The date shall be not less than 3 nor more than 4 months from the date of the order. If a claim is not filed by the deadline, the consequences provided in s. 859.02 apply. 859.01 History History: 1989 a. 96 ; 2005 a. 216 . 859.01 Annotation The statute of limitations concerning claims filed against an estate in probate may not be waived. Estate of Palmer, 68 Wis. 2d 101 , 227 N.W.2d 680 (1975). 859.02 859.02 Limitation on claims. 859.02(1) (1) Except as provided in sub. (2) and s.Wis. Stat. §§ 859.01-.02 — Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau; 2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2025 Wis. Act 247 and through all Supreme Court Orders and Controlled Substances Board Orders filed before and in effect on October 1, 2026. Published and certified under s. 35.18. Changes effective after October 1, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 10-1-26).
General sequence: first week, how long probate takes.
Wisconsin record: 6/6 verified, 21 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction