Gift of securities
Wis. Stat. § 854.11
in effect(1) Definition. In this section, “securities” includes all of the following:
(a) Any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, collateral trust certificate, transferable share or voting trust certificate.
(b) Any certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas or mining title or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease.
(c) Any interest or instrument commonly known as a security.
(d) Any certificate of interest or participation in, any temporary or interim certificate, receipt or certificate of deposit for, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the instruments or interests specified in pars. (a) to (c).
(2) Increase in securities; accessions. Except as provided in sub. (4), if a person executes a governing instrument that transfers securities and at the time of the execution or immediately after execution the described securities are in fact governed by the instrument, the transfer includes additional securities that are governed by the instrument at the person’s death if all of the following apply:
(a) The additional securities were acquired after the governing instrument was executed.
(b) The additional securities were acquired as a result of ownership of the described securities.
(c) The additional securities are any of the following types:
1. Securities of the same organization acquired as a result of a plan of reinvestment.
2. Securities of the same organization acquired by action initiated by the organization or any successor, related or acquiring organization, excluding any acquired by exercise of purchase options.
3. Securities of another organization acquired as a result of a merger, consolidation, reorganization or other distribution by the organization or any successor, related or acquiring organization.
(3) Gift of securities construed as specific. Except as provided in sub. (4), a transfer of a stated number of shares or amount of securities is construed to be a specific gift if the same or a greater number of shares or amount of the securities was governed by the instrument at the time of, or immediately after, execution of the instrument, even if the instrument does not describe the securities more specifically or qualify the description by a possessive pronoun such as “my”.
(4) Contrary intent. If the person who executed the governing instrument had an intent contrary to any provision in this section, then that provision is inapplicable to the transfer. Extrinsic evidence may be used to construe the intent.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/854.11Fetched: 10/7/2026