Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 879.35 (2026)

Costs in will contests

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section WI-LEGdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

879.35879.35 Costs in will contests. Costs may be awarded out of the estate to an unsuccessful proponent of a will if the unsuccessful proponent is named in the will to act as personal representative and propounded the document in good faith, and to the unsuccessful contestant of a will if the unsuccessful contestant is named to act as personal representative in another document propounded by the unsuccessful contestant in good faith as the last will of the decedent.

879.35 HistoryHistory: 1993 a. 486; 2001 a. 102.

879.35 AnnotationA finding of undue influence on the part of an unsuccessful proponent disqualifies the proponent from asserting “good faith” under this section. Bethesda Church v. Menning, 72 Wis. 2d 8, 239 N.W.2d 528 (1976).

879.35 AnnotationIf the court finds good faith, the court may, but need not, award costs and attorney fees to the unsuccessful proponent of a will. Gittel v. Abram, 2002 WI App 113, 255 Wis. 2d 767, 649 N.W.2d 661, 01-1132.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1976–2009 · leading case: Gittel v. Abram, 2002 WI App 113 (Wis. Ct. App. 2002).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Gittel v. Abram, 2002 WI App 113 (Wis. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 14× “Subsequently, the court rescinded that portion of its Decision and Order regarding undue influence and ordered that Abram's costs and attorney fees be reimbursed from the estate under Wis. Stat. §§ 879.35 and 879.37 (1999-2000).”

Wolf v. Est. of Wolf, 2009 WI App 183 (Wis. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 4× “See Wis. Stat. §§ 879.35 ("Costs may be awarded out of the estate to an unsuccessful proponent of a will if the unsuccessful proponent is named in the will to act as personal representative and propounded the document in good faith.”

Bethesda Church v. Menning, 239 N.W.2d 528 (Wis. 1976). “Sections 879.35 and 879.37, Stats., provide for costs and attorney fees in will contests for the unsuccessful proponent of a will “if he is named as an executor therein and propounded the document in good faith.”

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.