Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin

Non-Owner Spouse Sued in RE Real Estate Foreclosure Due to Marital Property Interest for Former Spouse

The WI Marital property act requires the bank to include you in the foreclosure suit in order to extinguish any potential marital property interest you may have had in the home. Odds are that they will be happy with the property alone and not sue you personally, but you owe it to yourself to have an attorney review the pleadings in order to make sure that this is the case. Even if this was not marital property at the beginning of your marriage, it could have been converted into marital property if you used other marital property (such as income) to maintain the home. An "opt out" agreement could have prevented the marital property act from applying to your situation, provided that the agreement was timely prepared, properly executed and either served in a timely fashion upon the bank that is foreclosing or recorded with the register of deeds. My comments here are not intended as legal advice, or to create an attorney client relationship.