854.06 Predeceased transferee.

(1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Provision in a governing instrument" includes all of the following:

1. A gift to an individual whether or not the individual is alive at the time of the execution of the instrument.

2. A share in a class gift only if a member of the class dies after the execution of the instrument.

3. An appointment by the decedent under any power of appointment, unless the issue who would take under this section could not have been appointees under the terms of the power.

(c) “Stepchild" means a child of the decedent's surviving, deceased or former spouse, and not of the decedent.

(2) Scope of coverage. This section applies to revocable provisions in a governing instrument executed by the decedent that provide for an outright transfer upon the death of the decedent to any of the following persons:

(a) A grandparent of the decedent, or issue of a grandparent, subject to s. 854.21.

(b) A stepchild of the decedent, subject to s. 854.15.

(3) Substitute gift to issue of covered transferee. Subject to sub. (4), if a transferee under a provision described in sub. (2) does not survive the decedent but has issue who do survive, the issue of the transferee take the transfer per stirpes, as provided in s. 854.04 (1).

(4) Contrary intent.

(a) Subsection (3) does not apply if any of the following applies:

1. The governing instrument provides that a transfer to a predeceased beneficiary lapses.

2. The governing instrument designates one or more persons, classes, or groups of people as contingent transferees, in which case those transferees take in preference to those under sub. (3). But if none of the contingent transferees survives, sub. (3) applies to the first group in the sequence of contingent transferees that has one or more transferees specified in sub. (2) who left surviving issue.

(bm) If the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is not applicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent.

History: 1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216.

A will clause providing that if any beneficiary dies within 5 months of the testator, the deceased beneficiary's share is to be treated as if the beneficiary predeceased the testator, served to pass a deceased beneficiary's share to her children under the anti-lapse statute. Firehammer v. Marchant, 224 Wis. 2d 673, 591 N.W.2d 898 (Ct. App. 1999), 98-0586.