You can come in to the counter during normal business hours, place an order through one of our third-party ordering links or mail in your request using our printable applications.  Click here for more information.

Certified and uncertified copies are $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional copy per record.  There are additional fees when ordering online.  You will need to bring a valid state issued ID or TWO alternative options.  We will not accept social security cards.   Click here for more information.

If the event occurred in Wisconsin, you can obtain your birth and marriage certificates at ANY Register of Deeds office in Wisconsin.   Click here for more information.  If the event occurred in another state, you will need to contact that state of occurrence to obtain your record.

We have divorce certificates from January 1, 2016 to present.  Click here for more information.  Divorce decrees along with any divorce record prior to 2016, must be obtained from the Clerk of Courts.

Your new last name will never appear on your marriage certificate.  The "current last name" listed on the record refers to the name that you had at the time of applying for the license.  You will use this document to change your name with social security, Department of Motor Vehicles and other institutions, but it will never appear on the record itself.

The Register of Deeds office is charged with the duty of being an 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 actual drafting of documents. We highly recommend that you obtain legal counsel for these transactions.

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" we are not 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.

If you are borrowing money from a financial institution in order to make the purchase, a title search will be ordered by that financial institution well in advance of the closing. This search will reveal any outstanding liens.

If no financial institution is involved, then you will want to contract directly with a title company for a complete 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.

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.

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.

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 does need to be done is to have a "Satisfaction of Mortgage" document recorded with the Register of Deeds office. Financial institutions are required to record such a document within a specified timeframe. If you received a "Satisfaction of Mortgage" endorsed with a time, date and document number from a Register of Deeds office, nothing further needs to be done. If you have not received the endorsed satisfaction, you should check with your lender to be certain they processed the appropriate paperwork.

Approximately 63% of our documents are recorded electronically by partners that record a higher volume of documents.  Occasional drafters are better off sending their documents through the mail.   Click here for more information regarding electronic recording.

According to a member of the Probate and Real Property Section of the Wisconsin State Bar Association that we conferred with, the answer is "No." The trust remains in effect. However, it is prudent to review the trust with your attorney periodically to determine if modifications to the trust would be advisable.

While Federal Income Tax Liens are recorded in the Register of Deeds office we have no jurisdiction over the lien itself or any release documentation once the lien is satisfied. We cannot record a Release unless one is presented to us for recording.

The IRS changed their procedures several years ago and now consider their liens to be "self releasing" after a certain number of years. As a result they do not record Release of Lien documents as they used to do.

It is our observation that credit-reporting agencies generally do not read documents, they only look at the index. However, if you contact the IRS, their staff may prepare a Certificate of Release that you can record. This should clear your credit report. Contact the manager in charge of preparation of federal tax liens at 414-297-1216 and ask for assistance.