I can find nothing in the Wisconsin statutes regulating trusts about requiring either witnesses or notarization.  I plan to do notarization, but the trust documents I purchased have language and witness signatures for 2 witnesses, both at the notary sections of trustees, and on the schedule A, meaning I would have to have 2 people witness and sign every time I made a new schedule A for another NFA item.

Were your trusts witnessed and notarized, notarized only, and are your schedule As witnessed as well?

Thanks.

Even the schedule A for property?  So you need to find 2 people for every NFA item, every time?  

That just seems onerous for an instrument that makes no mention of witnesses in the entire 34 pages of code.  Entire sections if the Will code are devoted to describing witnesses.

Everything on my was just notarized

Thanks

I didn't get my schedule A notarized. The trust itself is notarized though.

No need to get the declaration of trust witnessed and notarized but not a bad idea.  Absolutely no reason at all to have amendments or supporting documents subject to change notarized or witnessed.  In Wisconsin, "here, hold my beer" is technically a trust.  It is pretty fuckin' awesome.

Excellent.  Thanks guys.  E Form 1 suppressors here I come.

Giddy Up!

This is messed up.

We need a good answer on this????

I have 2 sample trusts. One 50 state good and one wi specific.

One requires 2 witness and notary. The other requires 1 witness and notary.

I searched wi trust law and found nothing about signing anything.

What are the facts?

Not sure man.  Mine is just notarized in three spots (one in the schedule so that really doesn't count).  Just received my 4th stamp in the mail, another should be here in the next week or two and then hoping to have the rest by the end of the year (mailed out in May).

My brother's and my coworkers are the same way with no issue.  It's been a stamp fest lately...

Well, that's the problem.  There is no fact other than the WI code doesn't say anything about witnesses or notaries.  In general, if it's not legislated, it's legal, IE if there is no law banning semi-automatic firearms, then semi-automatic firearms are legal.

Notarization is a good idea regardless because then at least some third party to the trust has acknowledged existence of the trust.

No lawyer will give you a straight answer unless you pay him to write the trust from scratch because he only wants to be responsible for his work alone, and there are no "simple" questions in their minds, like, "Does a trust require witnesses to be valid in WI?"  Seems like a yes or no question to me, but apparently isn't.

That's why I've decided to ask others, and decided for myself if theirs did not have witnesses, and my reading the code says nothing about witnesses, then I won't use them either.

That's as firm an answer as you're going to get I think.

My attorney said "NO, trusts in WI do not need to be notarized."  The "here, hold this" paraphrase above is from my attorney.  My attorney is also my father and I don't generally pay him in anything but beer.

That said, it is generally free to get something notarized at a bank - I think WI has a maximum fee of a few dollars a notary can charge, but most banks have someone that will do it for free.  I can't imagine why you wouldn't take a few minutes for the piece of mind.

There are other WI-specific things you need to pay more attention to (like including a clause negating the law against self-dealing by trustees) than the witness/notary issue, IMHO, and I truly believe you should get your trust drawn up by a knowledgeable attorney.