Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 893.40 (2026)
Action on judgment or decree; court of record
✓ current as of July 2026
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893.40893.40 Action on judgment or decree; court of record. Except as provided in ss. 846.04 (2) and (3) and 893.415, action upon a judgment or decree of a court of record of any state or of the United States shall be commenced within 20 years after the judgment or decree is entered or be barred.
893.40 NoteJudicial Council Committee’s Note, 1979: This section has been created to combine the provisions of repealed ss. 893.16 (1) and 893.18 (1). A substantive change from prior law results as the time period for an action upon a judgment of a court of record sitting without this state is increased from 10 years to 20 years and runs from the time of entry of a judgment. The separate statute of limitations for an action upon a sealed instrument is repealed as unnecessary. [Bill 326-A]
893.40 AnnotationThe defendant was prejudiced by an unreasonable 16-year delay in bringing suit; thus laches barred suit even though the applicable limitation period did not. Schafer v. Wegner, 78 Wis. 2d 127, 254 N.W.2d 193 (1977).
893.40 AnnotationA request by the state or an offender to correct a clerical error in the sentence portion of a written judgment to reflect accurately an oral pronouncement of sentence is not an “action upon a judgment” under this section. State v. Prihoda, 2000 WI 123, 239 Wis. 2d 244, 618 N.W.2d 857, 98-2263.
893.40 AnnotationThis section clearly and unambiguously specifies that the date when a cause of action to collect past-due child support payments begins to run is the date when a judgment ordering payments is entered. State v. Hamilton, 2003 WI 50, 261 Wis. 2d 458, 661 N.W.2d 832, 01-1014.
893.40 AnnotationUnder the circumstances present in this case in which a statute precluded a provision in a judgment, the statute of repose could not begin to run as to that provision until the legislature changed the law such that the provision could be carried out. Johnson v. Masters, 2013 WI 43, 347 Wis. 2d 238, 830 N.W.2d 647, 11-1240.
893.40 AnnotationThis section did not bar an action to enforce a divorce judgment that required a party to divide the party’s pension only “when and if” the pension became “available” to the party because it was impossible to judicially enforce that requirement during the first 21 years after the divorce judgment. Schwab v. Schwab, 2021 WI 67, 397 Wis. 2d 820, 961 N.W.2d 56, 19-1200.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 22
cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1972–2026 · leading case: Patricia A. Johnson v. Michael R. Masters, 2013 WI 43 (Wis. 2013).
Patricia A. Johnson v. Michael R. Masters, 2013 WI 43 (Wis. 2013). “" ¶2 This court has upheld the application of Wis. Stat. § 893.40 in a family law context.”
State v. Hamilton, 2003 WI 50 (Wis. 2003). “We hold that Wis. Stat. § 893.40 , which became effective on July 1, 1980, governs the time within which a party may bring an independent action to collect child support arrearages that accumulated after the statute's effective date.”
Tensfeldt v. Haberman, 2009 WI 77 (Wis. 2009). “rafting Robert's 1992 will because LaBudde proceeded in a good faith belief that the provision in the 1974 divorce judgment that required estate planning in favor of the adult children was void from its inception, as a judgment; and (3) I conclude that even if I were to assume,…”
State v. Prihoda, 2000 WI 123 (Wis. 2000). “the sentence portion of a written judgment of conviction without prior court approval; (2) whether an offender should be given notice that a clerical correction of the sentence portion of the written judgment of conviction is being considered and should be present at a hearing…”
Kathy Schwab v. Paul Schwab, 2021 WI 67 (Wis. 2021). “But when Paul first No. 2019AP1200 received his pension nearly 21 years later, he refused to pay Kathy her share.”
Hamilton v. Hamilton, 2002 WI App 89 (Wis. Ct. App. 2002). “The circuit court granted the State's request for an order for child support arrearages and rejected Walter's contention that the action was outside the twenty-year statute of limitations pertaining to actions upon a judgment under Wis. Stat. § 893.40 (1999-2000). 1 While we…”
Pries v. McMillon, 2010 WI 63 (Wis. 2010). “Judge Crabb observed: On its face the immunity granted under [ Wis. Stat. § 893.40 (4)] appears limited.”
Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. DNR, 2021 WI 71 (Wis. 2021). “2d __ (declining to interpret and follow the plain language of Wis. Stat. § 893.40 , as it in part "would produce an unreasonable result that would not advance the statute's purpose").”
Kroeger v. Kroeger, 353 N.W.2d 60 (Wis. Ct. App. 1984). “2d 317 (1945), the trial court concluded that sec. 893.40, Stats., 2 the twenty-year statute of limitation on judgments, did not apply because an independent action to collect child support arrearages is one on a “debt upon a record.”
Lak v. Richardson-Merrell, Inc., 302 N.W.2d 483 (Wis. 1981). “Sec. 893.40, Stats. 1973, now repealed, considered the action commenced, for purposes of the statute of limitations, when the summons was delivered to the sheriff within the appropriate limit with the intent it should be served.”
Kathy Schwab v. Paul Schwab, 2020 WI App 40 (Wis. Ct. App. 2020). “§ 893.40 (2017-18),1 which generally precludes “action upon a judgment or decree of a court” after twenty years.”
Pulchinski v. Strnad, 276 N.W.2d 781 (Wis. 1979). “The sixty-day requirement corresponds to former sec. 893.40, Stats., which provided that an action was deemed commenced on the date the summons was delivered for service if actually served or published within sixty days of delivery.”
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