General
1. How do I get a copy of a Birth, Marriage, Death or Divorce Certificate?
With statewide issuance, if the vital record you are requesting falls within the dates listed below you can obtain the copies from any Wisconsin Register of Deeds office regardless of where the event took place in the state of Wisconsin.
Birth Certificates - from 10/1/1907 to Present
Marriage Certificates - from 10/1/1907 to Present
Death Certificates - from 9/1/2013 to Present
Divorce Certificates - from 1/1/2016 to present
Tribal Marriage or Divorce - from 1/1/2016 to present
2. We recently paid off the mortgage on our home. When will get a new deed showing that we no longer owe the bank anything?
Under Wisconsin law, you only ever receive one deed to your property. And you should have received it shortly after you closed on your property. If you take a look at your deed, you will notice that your name appears as a “grantee” but the bank is never mentioned. So, when you pay your mortgage in full, it is not necessary to update your deed.
What needs to be done is to have a “Satisfaction of Mortgage” document recorded with our office. Financial institutions are required to record such a document within a specified timeframe. Check with your lender to be certain they processed the appropriate paperwork.
3. What help can the Register of Deeds office provide for drafting my own real estate documents?
This office is charged with the duty of being an unbiased, independent custodian of records relating to real estate. As such, the only area we can assist you in is general process questions.
We cannot assist you in the drafting of documents. Although several legal documents have been developed into “fill-in-the-blank” style forms and appear to be very easily completed, it is the answers to those fill-in-the-blank questions that are critically important. Those answers can vary widely from person to person. Determining the correct answer for your situation constitutes “legal advice” and none of our staff is licensed to practice real estate law. Even if we were, our role as custodian of the records would still prevent us from assisting in the creation of the records.
4. What is the square footage, year built, and/or stories of a building or house?
The Register of Deeds office does not have any information regarding the dwellings on a property. In order to find out this information, you will want to contact the assessor for the municipality the property is in. You many also contact the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center for House and Building History Research.
5. Can the Register of Deeds tell me if I have good and clear title?
No. The Register of Deeds office is not authorized to render opinions regarding the status of title. Professional title examiners or abstractors use the records in our office as well as searching records in other county offices to determine if the title is good and clear.
6. How do I change my deed so that it reflects my current name?
This question is more complex than it seems at first. In its simplest form, you are not required to take any action. When you sell the property at some point in the future, simply indicate on the deed, for example: "Mary Smith, nka (now known as) Mary Jones hereby grants…etc."
However, there are many other details that impact the answer to this question. The most important of which is Wisconsin’s Marital Property law. This law assumes that property used by a couple during the course of a marriage is jointly owned unless specified otherwise.
If you wish to remain the sole owner of the property and do not intend to convey any interest in the property to your spouse, steps must be taken prior to and during the marriage to assure that this occurs.
If, however, you intend for your spouse to share in the ownership of the property, there are a number of ways a married couple can hold title to property and each one has distinct legal implications. Depending on your financial status, age and other factors, a trust might even be advisable.
As you can see, it is best to seek the help of an attorney to draft a deed that will accomplish your goals.
7. I have been told I need to get a "legal description" of my property. Where do I get that?
The legal description of your property appears on your deed.
While this seems simple enough, it can be complicated by two factors. If your property consists of a number of small parcels that have been combined over time, a simple concise legal description may not exist. The opposite can also be a problem. Your property may have previously been a large parcel from which smaller parcels were sold off. In both of these cases, several documents and some interpretation may be required to construct a legal description.
If the history of your parcel fits into either of the above descriptions, you should contact a registered land surveyor for professional assistance in writing an accurate, updated legal description.
8. Can I do my own title search?
Strictly speaking, the answer is "yes". Practically speaking, however, the answer is probably "no".The records in the Register of Deeds office are open for public inspection. However, unless you are familiar with how real estate records are organized and how to perform a "Grantor/Grantee" and a "Tract Index" search, it will be easier for you to find the proverbial "needle in a haystack". Additionally, there may be documents on file with other county offices that may impact the property you are interested in.
It is our experience that the expertise a professional title searcher offers is well worth the money you will spend – especially when you compare it to the value of the transaction you are about to enter.
9. How do I find out who owns a parcel of real estate?
You can get this information from the tax website.
https://prod-landrecords.browncountywi.gov/GCSWebPortal/Search.aspx
10. How do I find the assessed value of a parcel of real estate?
You can get this information from the tax website.
https://prod-landrecords.browncountywi.gov/GCSWebPortal/Search.aspx
11. Where to I pay my taxes?
The Brown County Treasurer's office or Municipality. For more information please go to the Brown County Treasurer's website.
https://www.browncountywi.gov/departments/treasurer/general-information/
