The sheriff or other person appointed to make a sale shall be entitled to compensation for his or her services to be fixed by the court and taxed in the bill of costs against the defendant in such action where the court shall find that such defendant unreasonably refused to divide or sell said property and divide the proceeds thereof upon the application of the plaintiff, otherwise such sheriff or other person shall be paid out of the common proceeds of such sale.
820.03.Costs of sale.
Ch. 820: Partition of Personal Property · Last amended 1993 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceSection 820.03 lets the court fix the sheriff’s or appointed seller’s compensation and tax it against a defendant who unreasonably refused a plaintiff’s request to divide or sell the property and split the proceeds, and otherwise pays that compensation out of the common sale proceeds.
Full Text of Section 820.03
Plain-English Summary
Section 820.03 addresses who pays for carrying out a sale ordered under the section before it. The sheriff or other person appointed to make the sale is entitled to compensation for those services, with the amount fixed by the court.
How that compensation gets paid depends on the defendant’s conduct. If the court finds that the defendant unreasonably refused to divide or sell the property and divide the proceeds when the plaintiff applied for that relief, the compensation is taxed in the bill of costs against that defendant. Otherwise, the sheriff or appointed person is paid out of the common proceeds of the sale, shared across the owners.
This gives the section a built-in incentive: a defendant who could have avoided the sale by cooperating with the plaintiff’s request, but did not, bears the extra cost of the sale personally, rather than spreading it across every owner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who sets the compensation for the person who conducts the partition sale?
The court fixes that compensation.
When is the defendant personally responsible for those costs?
When the court finds that the defendant unreasonably refused the plaintiff’s application to divide or sell the property and divide the proceeds.
What happens if the defendant did not unreasonably refuse?
The seller’s compensation is instead paid out of the common proceeds of the sale.
How is this compensation collected from the defendant when it applies?
It is taxed in the bill of costs against the defendant in the action.
Does this section set the amount of compensation itself?
No, it leaves the amount to be fixed by the court; the section addresses only who ultimately pays it.
Amendment History
History: Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 762 (1975); 1993 a. 486.
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
Also known as: wisconsin partition sale costswho pays sheriff sale costs wisconsinunreasonable refusal to divide property wisconsins. 820.03 costs of sale