2014 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
885. Witnesses and oral testimony.
885.17 Transactions with deceased agent.
885.17 Transactions with deceased agent. No party, and no person from, through, or under whom a party derives the party's interest or title, may be examined as a witness in respect to any transaction or communication by the party or person personally with an agent of the adverse party or an agent of the person from, through, or under whom such adverse party derives his or her interest or title, if the agent is dead, mentally ill, or adjudicated incompetent as a witness, unless the opposite party shall first be examined or some other witness in his or her behalf examined in respect to some transaction or communication between the agent and the other party or person; or unless the testimony of the agent, at any time taken, be first read or given in evidence by the opposite party; and then, in either case respectively, only in respect to such the transaction or communication of which testimony is so given or to the matters to which the testimony relates.
The dead man's statute is not available to benefit the automobile insurer of a corporation concerning a transaction whereby an officer-agent accepted title of his wife's automobile for the corporation, since the insurer did not derive its interest "from, through or under" the corporation by virtue of its contract to insure. Knutson v. Mueller, 68 Wis. 2d 199, 228 N.W.2d 342 (1975).
Employees of a party, including corporate employees, are not within the disqualification imposed by this section. Hunzinger Construction Co. v. Granite Resources Corp. 196 Wis. 2d 327, 538 N.W.2d 804 (Ct. App. 1995), 94-1626.
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