WISCONSIN BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Wisconsin Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM & ADMISSION
· DIPLOMA PRIVILEGE (SCR 40.03): graduates of UW Law and Marquette Law who complete the required Wisconsin-law curriculum (+ character/fitness) are admitted without any bar exam at all — Wisconsin's signature distinction; name both schools · ADOPTING THE UBE: everyone else now takes the UBE, first administration July 2026 (MBE 50% / MEE 30% / MPT 20%), earning a portable score that transfers to/from other UBE jurisdictions · the MEE/MPT test general/majority law unless a question names Wisconsin, so the WI distinctions below matter for practice and any state-named question.
2. MARITAL / COMMUNITY PROPERTY (UMPA, Ch. 766) — most tested
· Wisconsin = community-property state via Uniform Marital Property Act · each spouse owns a present undivided 1/2 interest in all marital property regardless of title/earner · strong presumption ALL spousal property is marital (§766.31) · income earned during marriage — even income from individual (separate) property — is MARITAL (key trap) · individual property = owned before determination date, or acquired by gift/inheritance, or traceable exchange · untraceable commingling → whole asset becomes marital (§766.63) · marital property agreement = writing signed by both, no consideration needed (§766.58) · family-purpose obligations reach all marital property (§766.55) · at death decedent's estate = his 1/2 of marital property + all his individual property · UMPA controls OWNERSHIP/death; divorce division is separate (see #6).
3. WILLS, TRUSTS & ESTATES
· will needs 2 witnesses; NO holographic wills; harmless-error/substantial-compliance allowed · spousal protection is the deferred-marital-property election — survivor elects up to 50% of deferred marital property (§861.02), NOT a flat elective share (survivor already owns 1/2 of marital property) · intestacy: all-mutual-children spouse takes all; blended family → spouse takes individual property + 1/2 of decedent's marital interest, rest to non-mutual descendants · homestead occupancy + family allowance + §815.20 homestead exemption.
4. EVIDENCE (own code, Ch. 904–911)
· patterned on FRE but separate numbering · statutory physician-patient privilege §905.04 (no FRE equivalent) — but personal-injury plaintiff waives as to condition at issue · Daubert governs experts after 2011 amendment to §907.02 · default to FRE, flag the short list of departures.
5. REAL PROPERTY
· recording act = NOTICE (§706.08) — BFP without notice wins even before recording · adverse possession: 20 yrs default / 10 yrs color of title / 7 yrs color of title + paid taxes · lien theory, judicial foreclosure, statutory redemption (Ch. 846) · homestead conveyance/mortgage needs both spouses' signatures (§706.02).
6. FAMILY LAW
· no-fault only — marriage irretrievably broken · divorce division: presumption of EQUAL (50/50) split, but gifts/inheritances excluded absent hardship · maintenance = multi-factor (§767.56) · child support = percentage-of-income standard (17%/25%...) · custody vocabulary: legal custody (presumption of joint) vs. physical placement.
7. TORTS
· modified comparative, 51% bar — recover if "not greater than" defendant; barred at 51%+ (§895.045) · plaintiff's fault compared INDIVIDUALLY against each defendant (major trap) · joint & several liability only for a defendant 51%+ at fault · med-mal noneconomic cap (§893.55); punitive cap = greater of 2× compensatory or $200k (§895.043) · dram shop: broad immunity for providers; liability essentially only for serving minors (§125.035).
8. CIV PRO / SOL
· tort personal-injury 3 yrs; contract & property damage 6 yrs (Ch. 893) · long-arm §801.05 is an enumerated statute — two-step: fit a subsection, THEN minimum-contacts due process · notice pleading (Ch. 802).
9. CONTRACTS / UCC / ENTITIES / PR / CRIMINAL
· UCC adopted (Ch. 401–411); doctrine national; SOF §241.02; 6-yr contract SOL · married-obligor creditor reach turns on family-purpose rule §766.55 · corporations Ch. 180 (MBCA), LLCs Ch. 183 (RULLCA-based, modernized 2023) · PR = Model Rules as SCR Ch. 20; detailed trust accounting SCR 20:1.15; discipline by OLR; admission SCR Ch. 40 · criminal: statutory homicide grading; castle-doctrine presumption §939.48; John Doe proceedings; OWI escalation.
KEY FLAGS
· Diploma privilege — UW & Marquette grads, no exam · Community property — present 1/2 interest in all marital property; income from separate property is marital · Deferred-marital-property election, not elective share · 2 witnesses, no holographic wills · Notice recording act · AP