Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements in Wisconsin

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Wisconsin uses reasonable periods, not fixed day counts

Wis. Stat. § 701.0813(2)(b) requires acceptance notice within a reasonable period after the trustee accepts. It states the acceptance and gives the trustee's name, address, and telephone number.

Paragraph (2)(c) uses a separate reasonable period after the trustee learns that an irrevocable trust was created or that a formerly revocable trust became irrevocable, whether by the settlor's death or otherwise. The statute does not convert either reasonable period into 30, 60, 90, or 120 days.

The recipient class includes statutory stand-ins

Wis. Stat. § 701.0110(1)–(3) gives qualified-beneficiary rights to an identified charitable organization that is a current or presumptive remainder beneficiary, to an animal or noncharitable-purpose trust enforcer, and in the stated charitable-trust circumstance to the Wisconsin attorney general.

The irrevocability notice has six content groups

The notice states the trust's existence and identifies the settlor or settlors. It also gives the name, address, and telephone number of every directing party and trust protector.

The remaining items are rights: to request either interest-related trust portions or the complete instrument, to request administration information, and to receive the statutory trustee's report. Trustee contact information belongs expressly to the separate acceptance notice, not the paragraph (2)(c) content list.

General delivery rules remain functional

Wis. Stat. § 701.0109(1) requires a method reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt. Examples include first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the last known residence or business, and a properly directed electronic message. Under § 701.0109(3), notice may be waived, and a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable need not receive it. No publication fallback is stated.

The trust can change or eliminate the information rights

Wis. Stat. § 701.0105(1) makes trust terms the general control, and its mandatory-rule list does not include § 701.0813. Section 701.0813(7) is even more direct: the trust instrument may expand, restrict, eliminate, or otherwise vary a beneficiary's information rights for any period, including the beneficiary's lifetime.

When rights are restricted or eliminated, no representative is serving, and the trust provides no appointment route, the trustee may appoint a representative for the beneficiary or class.

What trips people up

• There is no numerical deadline. “Reasonable period” is the statutory measure.
• Directing-party and trust-protector contacts are required. The current irrevocability notice expressly lists each one's name, address, and telephone number.
• The qualified-beneficiary definition has two parts. Wisconsin includes current beneficiaries and presumptive remainder beneficiaries.
• No sworn service package is prescribed. The notice needs no perjury declaration, signature, notarization, certified mail, email consent, or proof-of-service form.

Common questions

Must the trustee provide the complete trust instrument?

Not always. Upon a qualified beneficiary's request, § 701.0813(2)(a) lets the trustee provide either the portions relating to that beneficiary's interest or the complete instrument. A settlor who requests a copy receives the instrument, although subsection (6) says the trustee has no general duty to provide the settlor administration information.

Who automatically receives annual reports?

Under § 701.0813(3), current beneficiaries receive them. Presumptive remainder beneficiaries receive them when they request them. A report to a beneficiary of a specific dollar amount or specific property may be limited to information concerning that gift.

Can a qualified beneficiary waive information?

Yes. Section 701.0813(4) permits waiver of reports or other information and prospective withdrawal. Neither it nor § 701.0109(3) requires a written waiver.

Which older events are excluded?

The acceptance, irrevocability, and report provisions do not apply to a trustee accepting before July 1, 2014, an irrevocable trust created before that date, or a revocable trust becoming irrevocable before that date.

Statutes and sources

• Wis. Stat. §§ 701.0103(21), 701.0105, 701.0109, and 701.0110 — recipient definition, trust-term control, delivery and waiver, and special qualified- beneficiary rights. Official certified Chapter 701 (accessed 2026-07-31).
• Wis. Stat. § 701.0813(1)-(7) — reasonable-period notices, contents, request rights, reports, waiver, legacy dates, settlor information, and trust-term variation. Official Wisconsin Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).