Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Wisconsin adopted its trust code, Chapter 701 of the Statutes, in 2013 Wisconsin Act 92, with the reporting rules applying to trusts accepted or made irrevocable on or after July 1, 2014. It keeps the uniform annual report but lets the trust instrument expand, restrict or eliminate beneficiaries' information rights, for any period, including a beneficiary's lifetime. Its one-year limitation rule is also unusual: a beneficiary's waiver of reports starts the clock.
Who must provide an accounting in Wisconsin
Section 701.0813 requires the trustee to keep the current beneficiaries, and presumptive remainder beneficiaries who ask, reasonably informed about the administration of the trust, and to respond promptly to a qualified beneficiary's request for information unless that would be unreasonable.
On request, the trustee furnishes a qualified beneficiary either the portions of the trust instrument relating to that beneficiary's interest or the whole instrument. Within a reasonable time after accepting a trusteeship, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number. Within a reasonable time after learning that an irrevocable trust has been created, or that a revocable trust has become irrevocable, the trustee tells them of the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, the name and contact details of each directing party and trust protector, and their rights to request the instrument, information and a trustee's report.
The report goes to the current beneficiaries, and to presumptive remainder beneficiaries who request it, at least annually and at termination of the trust. A qualified beneficiary may waive reports and later withdraw the waiver. The notice and report requirements do not apply to trusts accepted, created or made irrevocable before July 1, 2014.
Subsection (7) is the broad one. The trust instrument may expand, restrict, eliminate or otherwise vary a beneficiary's right to be informed or to receive any or all information about the trust, for any period. Where a beneficiary's rights are restricted and the instrument provides no representative, the trustee may appoint one.
What a Wisconsin trust accounting must contain
The report covers the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, and a listing of the trust assets with market values if feasible. A trustee may limit the report to a beneficiary of a specific dollar amount or specific property to information about that gift. On a vacancy with no cotrustee remaining, the former trustee sends a report. A personal representative or guardian may send it for a trustee who has died or become incapacitated.
Income and principal allocation in Wisconsin
Allocation is governed by the Uniform Principal and Income Act, Subchapter XI of Chapter 701, part of the trust code itself.
Filing an accounting with the Wisconsin court
Under section 701.0201, a trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it on the petition of a settlor, trustee or qualified beneficiary requesting supervision. The court acts when an interested person invokes its jurisdiction.
When a Wisconsin accounting is contested
Section 701.1005 bars a proceeding for breach of trust more than one year after the earlier of two dates: the date the beneficiary waived the right to reports, or the date the beneficiary was sent a report or other record that adequately disclosed the potential claim. A report or record discloses adequately if it gives enough information that the beneficiary knows of the claim or should have inquired into it. The section does not require the report to state the deadline.
Otherwise, the outer limit is five years from the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust. Neither period applies to a claim for fraud.
A beneficiary who waives reports in Wisconsin should understand that the waiver itself starts a one-year period.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare Wisconsin annual trust reports built to section 701.0813 and to the disclosure that starts the section 701.1005 one-year period, including reports limited to a specific gift. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about Wisconsin fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
More: the uniform framework · all state pages · our services
Primary source: Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 701, Wisconsin State Legislature.
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
