767.77.Enforcement of payment obligations.
Subch. VIII: Enforcement · Last amended 2021 · Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 · Last verified September 8, 2026
Full Text of Section 767.77
Amendment History
Wisconsin prints each section’s legislative history as a single “History” line naming every act that created or amended it, and every renumbering. It is reproduced verbatim below.
History: 1971 c. 220; 1975 c. 401 s. 4; 1977 c. 105; 1979 c. 32 ss. 50, 92 (4); 1979 c. 196, 221; 1979 c. 257 s. 17; 1979 c. 355; Stats. 1979 s. 767.30; 1983 a. 27; 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 332 s. 64; 1993 a. 481; 1995 a. 77, 287; 1997 a. 27, 191; 1999 a. 103; 2005 a. 443 ss. 137, 239; Stats. 2005 s. 767.77; 2015 a. 373; 2019 a. 95; 2021 a. 35.
Plain-English Summary
Where the specialised tools do not fit, this is the section that does. It defines “payment obligation” broadly enough to cover support, maintenance, attorney fees, health care expenses, paternity obligations and reconciled arrearages, and then gives the court three powers over all of them.
Terms. The court may order the obligation paid in the amounts and at the times it considers expedient.
Security. It may impose liability as a charge on specific real estate of the obligated party, or require sufficient security for payment. A charge on real estate takes effect only when the order or a certified copy is recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the land lies — so the charge and the public record come into existence together.
Enforcement. If a party neither pays nor gives security, the court may enforce the judgment, or the order as if it were a final judgment, including past due payments and interest, by any appropriate remedy. The section names 6 remedies and says the list is not exhaustive: execution of the order or judgment; contempt of court; a money judgment for past due payments; satisfaction out of property attached; garnishment; and, for unpaid child or family support, satisfaction out of the proceeds of the sale of an attached ship, boat or vessel.
That last one explains the section's odd final subsection. On a county's request, the department of natural resources must hand over a list of the names and addresses of everyone holding a valid certificate of number or registration for a boat, prepared annually before May 31. If the law is going to sell a delinquent payer's boat, somebody has to know which boat is theirs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a Wisconsin court enforce unpaid support?
By any appropriate remedy, including the 6 the section names: execution, contempt, a money judgment for past due payments, satisfaction out of attached property, garnishment, and satisfaction out of the sale of an attached ship, boat or vessel.
Can support be secured against my house?
The court may impose liability as a charge upon specific real estate, or require sufficient security. The charge is not effective until the order or a certified copy is recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the property is.
Can they really take a boat?
For failure to pay child or family support, yes — satisfaction out of the proceeds of the sale of a ship, boat or vessel attached and sold under the attachment chapter is one of the named remedies.
Why does the DNR give counties a list of boat owners?
So the boat remedy can be used. On a county's request the department of natural resources provides the names and addresses of owners of registered boats, prepared annually before May 31.