700.21 Covendors in contracts to transfer.

(1) If 2 or more persons are named as covendors in a contract to transfer an interest in property which they own as joint tenants, the purchase price is payable to them as joint tenants, unless the contract expresses a contrary intent. If 2 or more persons are named as covendors in a contract to transfer an interest in property which they own as tenants in common, the purchase price is payable to them according to their interests, unless the contract expresses a contrary intent.

(2) If 2 or more persons are named as covendors in a contract to transfer an interest in property which is owned by less than all of the covendors, the purchase price is payable to the owner or owners of the interest in property to which the contract relates, unless the contract expresses an intent that the purchase price is payable to the covendors as joint tenants or as tenants in common.

History: 1971 c. 66.

Under the plain language of the land contract in this case, the full contract price was payable to all co-vendors. By operation of sub. (1), the contract price is divided between the covendors according to their respective interests in the property, but the individual payments are not subdivided. Under sub. (1), each co-vendor had a property right to one-fourth of the full contract price and that is the amount that was garnishable by a co-vendor's creditor. What the co-vendors had done with the previous payments was irrelevant and had no impact on the rights of a creditor to garnish a co-vendor's interest in the amount due under the land contract. Prince Corporation v. Vandenberg, 2015 WI App 55, 364 Wis. 2d 457, 868 N.W.2d 599, 14-2097.