Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 816.03 (2026)
Debtor may be compelled to answer as to property
✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
WI-LEGdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov
JustiaChapter on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
816.03(1)(a)(a) When an execution against property has, within 5 years, been returned unsatisfied in whole or in part or the officer holding the execution certifies that the officer is unable to levy upon property sufficient to satisfy the judgment or the judgment creditor by affidavit satisfies the court or judge that the judgment debtor, whether an individual, firm, corporation or other association, has property which the judgment debtor unlawfully refuses to apply towards the satisfaction of the judgment, the court or a judge of the county to which the execution was issued shall, upon motion of the judgment creditor, order such judgment debtor, whether an individual, firm, corporation or other association, to appear before the court or judge and answer concerning the judgment debtor’s property at a time and place specified in the order, within said county.
816.03(1)(b)(b) A supplemental court commissioner upon application of a judgment creditor shall order any judgment debtor to appear before the supplemental court commissioner and answer concerning the judgment debtor’s property at a time and place specified in the order, within said county, in lieu of the procedure set forth in par. (a).
816.03(2)(2) The fact that garnishee proceedings have been commenced in aid of or that property has been levied on under a second execution shall not bar proceedings under this section; but if it appears to the satisfaction of the court or judge before whom such proceedings are pending that the property levied on or garnisheed will be sufficient to satisfy such judgment with costs, then the proceedings herein provided for may be dismissed or adjourned to a time after the sale under such execution or the termination of such garnishee proceedings.
816.03 HistoryHistory: 1971 c. 123; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 761 (1975); Stats. 1975 s. 816.03; 1993 a. 213, 486; 2001 a. 61.
816.03 AnnotationA judgment creditor may examine the spouse of a judgment debtor in regard to the amount and location of marital property that might be available to satisfy a judgment. Courtyard Condominium Association, Inc. v. Draper, 2001 WI App 115, 244 Wis. 2d 153, 629 N.W.2d 38, 00-1817.
816.03 AnnotationSupplemental proceedings under this chapter are a discovery tool in aid of judgment collection. Serving a debtor with an order to appear for supplemental proceedings does not give rise to a blanket lien on all of the debtor’s personal property. A judgment creditor obtains an interest in a judgment debtor’s identified, non-exempt personal property superior to other unsecured creditors when it dockets its money judgment, identifies specific personal property, and levies that property. Associated Bank N.A. v. Collier, 2014 WI 62, 355 Wis. 2d 343, 852 N.W.2d 443, 11-2597.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1990–2022 · leading case: Crown Castle USA, Inc. v. Orion Constr. Grp., LLC, 2012 WI 29 (Wis. 2012).
Crown Castle USA, Inc. v. Orion Constr. Grp., LLC, 2012 WI 29 (Wis. 2012). “Crown Castle, dissatisfied with the information Orion Construction provided, moved the circuit court to expand the scope of supplemental examination to "copies of all books, records, and documents that pertain to the assets, financial affairs, and transactions for each and every…”
Associated Bank N.A. v. Jack W. Collier, 2014 WI 62 (Wis. 2014). “2011AP2597 with an order in compliance with Wis. Stat. § 816.035 to appear to answer questions concerning his or her property.”
Courtyard Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Draper, 2001 WI App 115 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001). “Courtyard applied, under Wis. Stat. § 816.03 (1)(b), to a Walworth county court commissioner for an order requiring Lewis to submit to a supplementary examination.”
Appeal of Mann v. Bankr. Est. of Badger Lines, Inc., 590 N.W.2d 270 (Wis. 1999). “Because we are persuaded both by authority from other jurisdictions and by public policy considerations, we conclude that a creditor's lien is valid and superior against other creditors at the time the creditor serves the debtor with a summons to appear at the supplementary…”
Dawson v. Goldammer, 2006 WI App 158 (Wis. Ct. App. 2006). “Because the Gol-dammers had not satisfied the judgment for $24,500, the Dawsons proceeded with an application for a supplementary examination pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 816.03 . Subsequently, the Goldammers failed to comply with an order to appear before a court commissioner,…”
Blaw Knox Corp. v. AMR Indus., Inc., 130 F.R.D. 400 (E.D. Wis. 1990). “” The Cole-mans then refer to § 816.03(l)(a) Wis.Stats. which permit a judgment creditor to compel a debtor to answer concerning his property “when an execution against property has .”
Crown Castle USA, Inc. v. Orion Constr. Grp., LLC, 2011 WI App 9 (Wis. Ct. App. 2010). “In an effort to discover whether Orion Construction was concealing property subject to the judgment, Crown Castle sought and received an order requiring Orion Logistics, LLC, which shares common ownership with Orion Construction, to submit to a supplemental examination of its…”
Attorney's Title Guar. Fund, Inc. v. Town Bank, 2013 WI App 6 (Wis. Ct. App. 2012). “See Wis. Stat. § 816.03 (1). If a creditor obtains such an order, Wis.”
Greenpoint Asset Mgmt. II LLC v. Hallick (Bankr. E.D. Wis. 2022). “He served Hull and GAM II with orders to appear for a supplemental examination under Wis. Stat. §816.03 on May 26, 2021, and June 3, 2021, respectively.”
In re Clark, 530 B.R. 439 (Bankr. W.D. Wis. 2015). “To enforce the judgment, Resul and Zinigie Adili d/b/a Kegonsa Plaza (collectively “KP”) served the debtors with an order to appear before the court commissioner for a supplemental examination.”
Wis. Stat. § 816.03(1): 1 case
Crown Castle USA, Inc. v. Orion Constr. Grp., LLC, 2012 WI 29 (Wis. 2012). “Crown Castle, dissatisfied with the information Orion Construction provided, moved the circuit court to expand the scope of supplemental examination to "copies of all books, records, and documents that pertain to the assets, financial affairs, and transactions for each and every…”
Wis. Stat. § 816.03(1)(a): 1 case
Crown Castle USA, Inc. v. Orion Constr. Grp., LLC, 2012 WI 29 (Wis. 2012). “Crown Castle, dissatisfied with the information Orion Construction provided, moved the circuit court to expand the scope of supplemental examination to "copies of all books, records, and documents that pertain to the assets, financial affairs, and transactions for each and every…”
Wis. Stat. § 816.03(l)(a): 3 cases
Crown Castle USA, Inc. v. Orion Constr. Grp., LLC, 2012 WI 29 (Wis. 2012). “Crown Castle, dissatisfied with the information Orion Construction provided, moved the circuit court to expand the scope of supplemental examination to "copies of all books, records, and documents that pertain to the assets, financial affairs, and transactions for each and every…”
Courtyard Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Draper, 2001 WI App 115 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001). “Courtyard applied, under Wis. Stat. § 816.03 (1)(b), to a Walworth county court commissioner for an order requiring Lewis to submit to a supplementary examination.”
Blaw Knox Corp. v. AMR Indus., Inc., 130 F.R.D. 400 (E.D. Wis. 1990). “” The Cole-mans then refer to § 816.03(l)(a) Wis.Stats. which permit a judgment creditor to compel a debtor to answer concerning his property “when an execution against property has .”
Wis. Stat. § 816.03(l)(b): 2 cases
Crown Castle USA, Inc. v. Orion Constr. Grp., LLC, 2012 WI 29 (Wis. 2012). “Crown Castle, dissatisfied with the information Orion Construction provided, moved the circuit court to expand the scope of supplemental examination to "copies of all books, records, and documents that pertain to the assets, financial affairs, and transactions for each and every…”
Blaw Knox Corp. v. AMR Indus., Inc., 130 F.R.D. 400 (E.D. Wis. 1990). “” The Cole-mans then refer to § 816.03(l)(a) Wis.Stats. which permit a judgment creditor to compel a debtor to answer concerning his property “when an execution against property has .”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.