893.40 Action on judgment or decree; court of record. - Wisconsin Statutes

893.40

SUBCHAPTER IV
ACTIONS RELATING TO CONTRACTS
AND COURT JUDGMENTS
893.40 Action on judgment or decree; court of record. Except as provided in ss. 846.04 (2) and (3) and 893.415, action upon a judgment or decree of a court of record of any state or of the United States shall be commenced within 20 years after the judgment or decree is entered or be barred.

893.40 - ANNOT.

History: 1979 c. 323; 1997 a. 27; 2003 a. 287.

893.40 - ANNOT.

Judicial Council Committee's Note, 1979: This section has been created to combine the provisions of repealed ss. 893.16 (1) and 893.18 (1). A substantive change from prior law results as the time period for an action upon a judgment of a court of record sitting without this state is increased from 10 years to 20 years and runs from the time of entry of a judgment. The separate statute of limitations for an action upon a sealed instrument is repealed as unnecessary. [Bill 326-A]

893.40 - ANNOT.

The defendant was prejudiced by an unreasonable 16-year delay in bringing suit; thus laches barred suit even though the applicable limitation period did not. Schafer v. Wegner, 78 Wis. 2d 127, 254 N.W.2d 193 (1977).

893.40 - ANNOT.

A request by the state or an offender to correct a clerical error in the sentence portion of a written judgment to reflect accurately an oral pronouncement of sentence is not an "action upon a judgment" under this section. State v. Prihoda, 2000 WI 123, 239 Wis. 2d 244, 618 N.W.2d 857, 98-2263.

893.40 - ANNOT.

This section clearly and unambiguously specifies that the date when a cause of action to collect past-due child support payments begins to run is the date when a judgment ordering payments is entered. State v. Hamilton, 2003 WI 50, 261 Wis. 2d 458, 661 N.W.2d 832, 01-1014.