(1) SCOPE. Courts of record within their respective jurisdictions shall have power to declare rights, status, and other legal relations whether or not further relief is or could be claimed. No action or proceeding shall be open to objection on the ground that a declaratory judgment or decree is prayed for. The declaration may be either affirmative or negative in form and effect; and such declarations shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree, except that finality for purposes of filing an appeal as of right shall be determined in accordance with s. 808.03 (1).
806.04.Uniform declaratory judgments act.
Ch. 806: Judgment · Last amended 2017 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceSection 806.04 is Wisconsin’s Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, giving courts of record the power to declare the rights, status, and legal relations of interested parties under contracts, wills, statutes, and other instruments, even before any breach or violation has occurred.
Full Text of Section 806.04
(2) POWER TO CONSTRUE, ETC. Any person interested under a deed, will, written contract or other writings constituting a contract, or whose rights, status or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract or franchise, may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under the instrument, statute, ordinance, contract or franchise and obtain a declaration of rights, status or other legal relations thereunder. No party shall be denied the right to have declared the validity of any statute or municipal ordinance by virtue of the fact that the party holds a license or permit under such statutes or ordinances.
(3) BEFORE BREACH. A contract may be construed either before or after there has been a breach thereof.
(4) REPRESENTATIVES, ETC. Any person interested as or through a personal representative, trustee, guardian, or other fiduciary, creditor, devisee, legatee, heir, next of kin, or cestui que trust in the administration of a trust, or of the estate of a decedent, infant, individual adjudicated incompetent, or insolvent, may have a declaration of rights or legal relations in respect to the administration of the trust or estate for any of the following purposes:
(a) To ascertain any class of creditors, devisees, legatees, heirs, next of kin or others; or
(b) To direct the personal representatives or trustees to do or abstain from doing any particular act in their fiduciary capacity; or
(c) To determine any question arising in the administration of the estate or trust, including questions of construction of wills and other writings.
(5) ENUMERATION NOT EXCLUSIVE. The enumeration in subs. (2), (3) and (4) does not limit or restrict the exercise of the general powers conferred in sub. (1) in any proceeding where declaratory relief is sought, in which a judgment or decree will terminate the controversy or remove an uncertainty.
(6) DISCRETIONARY. The court may refuse to render or enter a declaratory judgment or decree where such judgment or decree, if rendered or entered, would not terminate the uncertainty or controversy giving rise to the proceeding.
(7) REVIEW. All orders, judgments and decrees under this section may be reviewed as other orders, judgments and decrees.
(8) SUPPLEMENTAL RELIEF. Further relief based on a declaratory judgment or decree may be granted whenever necessary or proper. The application therefor shall be by petition to a court having jurisdiction to grant the relief. If the application be deemed sufficient, the court shall, on reasonable notice, require any adverse party whose rights have been adjudicated by the declaratory judgment or decree, to show cause why further relief should not be granted forthwith.
(9) JURY TRIAL. When a proceeding under this section involves the determination of an issue of fact, such issue may be tried and determined in the same manner as issues of fact are tried and determined in other civil actions in the court in which the proceeding is pending.
(10) COSTS. In any proceeding under this section the court may make such award of costs as may seem equitable and just.
(11) PARTIES. When declaratory relief is sought, all persons shall be made parties who have or claim any interest which would be affected by the declaration, and no declaration may prejudice the right of persons not parties to the proceeding. In any proceeding which involves the validity of a municipal ordinance or franchise, the municipality shall be made a party, and shall be entitled to be heard. If a statute, ordinance or franchise is alleged to be unconstitutional, or to be in violation of or preempted by federal law, or if the construction or validity of a statute is otherwise challenged, the attorney general shall also be served with a copy of the proceeding and be entitled to be heard. If a statute is alleged to be unconstitutional, or to be in violation of or preempted by federal law, or if the construction or validity of a statute is otherwise challenged, the speaker of the assembly, the president of the senate, and the senate majority leader shall also be served with a copy of the proceeding, and the assembly, the senate, and the state legislature are entitled to be heard. If the assembly, the senate, or the joint committee on legislative organization inter- venes as provided under s. 803.09 (2m), the assembly shall represent the assembly, the senate shall represent the senate, and the joint committee on legislative organization shall represent the legislature. In any proceeding under this section in which the constitutionality, construction or application of any provision of ch. 227, or of any statute allowing a legislative committee to suspend, or to delay or prevent the adoption of, a rule as defined in s. 227.01 (13) is placed in issue by the parties, the joint committee for review of administrative rules shall be served with a copy of the petition and, with the approval of the joint committee on legislative organization, shall be made a party and be entitled to be heard.
(12) CONSTRUCTION. This section is declared to be remedial; its purpose is to settle and to afford relief from uncertainty and insecurity with respect to rights, status and other legal relations; and is to be liberally construed and administered.
(13) WORDS CONSTRUED. The word “person” wherever used in this section, shall be construed to mean any person, partnership, joint stock company, unincorporated association or society, or municipal or other corporation of any character whatsoever.
(14) PROVISIONS SEVERABLE. The several subsections and provisions of this section except subs. (1) and (2) are declared independent and severable, and the invalidity, if any, of any part or feature thereof shall not affect or render the remainder of the statute invalid or inoperative.
(15) UNIFORMITY OF INTERPRETATION. This section shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it, and to harmonize, as far as possible, with federal laws and regulations on the subject of declaratory judgments and decrees.
(16) SHORT TITLE. This section may be cited as the “Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act”.
Official Notes
Judicial Council Committee’s Note, 1977: Sub. (3m), as created by ch. 263, laws of 1973, is added. Sub. (3m), which was created during the time the rules of civil procedure were in the process of being adopted, was inadvertently not included in new s. 806.04 along with the other provisions of former s. 269.56. The only intent of the Judicial Council during the preparation of the Rules of Civil Procedure in regard to old s. 269.56 was to renumber it to s. 806.04. [Re Order effective July 1, 1978]
Judicial Council Note, 1991: Sub. (1) is amended to clarify that a declaratory judgment is not appealable as of right unless it disposes of the entire matter in litigation as to one or more of the parties. [Re Order effective July 1, 1992]
Plain-English Summary
Section 806.04 gives Wisconsin courts of record broad power to declare rights, status, and other legal relations, whether or not any further relief is or could be claimed. No case is barred from consideration merely because it asks for a declaration rather than damages or an injunction, and the declaration can be affirmative or negative, carrying the force of a final judgment or decree, though finality for an appeal as of right still follows the standard appellate rule.
Any person interested under a deed, will, contract, or other written instrument, or whose rights are affected by a statute, ordinance, contract, or franchise, may ask a court to construe it and declare the resulting rights. A contract can be construed either before or after a breach, so parties do not have to wait for a dispute to boil over before finding out where they stand. Personal representatives, trustees, guardians, and other fiduciaries administering an estate or trust may likewise seek a declaration on matters like identifying a class of beneficiaries or directing how they should act.
The remedy is discretionary rather than automatic: a court can decline to issue a declaratory judgment if doing so would not end the underlying uncertainty or controversy. Where a factual dispute is part of the case, it can be tried to a jury the same way fact issues are tried in other civil actions, and a party can later seek supplemental relief based on the declaration by petition. All persons whose interests would be affected must be made parties, and when a statute’s constitutionality is challenged, the attorney general and specified legislative leaders must be served and given the chance to be heard.
The section closes with interpretive instructions: it is remedial, to be construed liberally, and courts should read it to harmonize Wisconsin’s approach with how other states applying the same uniform act read theirs. It is cited as the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, and most of its provisions are severable from one another.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a court to declare my rights under a contract before anyone breaches it?
Yes. Section 806.04 states that a contract may be construed either before or after a breach, so a party does not need to wait for an actual violation to ask a court to declare the resulting rights.
Who can bring a declaratory judgment action in Wisconsin?
Any person interested under a deed, will, written contract, or other writing constituting a contract, or whose rights, status, or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract, or franchise, may seek a declaration.
Can a court refuse to decide a declaratory judgment case?
Yes. Section 806.04 makes the remedy discretionary: the court may refuse to render a declaratory judgment where doing so would not terminate the uncertainty or controversy that gave rise to the proceeding.
Do I get a jury trial in a declaratory judgment action?
Yes, when the proceeding involves determining an issue of fact. Section 806.04 says that issue is tried and determined the same way fact issues are tried in other civil actions in the court where the proceeding is pending.
Does the attorney general need to be notified if I challenge a statute’s constitutionality?
Yes. If a statute is alleged to be unconstitutional or preempted by federal law, or its construction is otherwise challenged, the attorney general must be served with a copy of the proceeding and is entitled to be heard, along with specified legislative leaders when the statute’s validity itself is at issue.
Amendment History
History: Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 718 (1975); 1975 c. 218; Sup. Ct. Order, 82 Wis. 2d ix (1978); 1977 c. 449; 1979 c. 38, 89, 175; 1979 c. 330 s. 13; 1979 c. 352, 355; 1981 c. 96 s. 67; 1981 c. 187 s. 10; 1981 c. 390 s. 252; 1983 a. 255 s. 6; 1985 a. 182 s. 57, Sup. Ct. Order, 166 Wis. 2d xix (1992); 2001 a. 102, 109; 2005 a. 177, 387; 2017 a. 369.
Source & verification. Section text and official notes are
reproduced verbatim from the Wisconsin Statutes, published by the
Wisconsin Legislature (Legislative Reference Bureau). Last verified July 15, 2026.
· Official source
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