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Waukesha County Courthouse
515 W. Moreland Blvd.
Waukesha, WI 53188
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901 N. 9th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53233
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Kenosha, WI 53140
Divorce: Answering Your Legal Questions
Everyone hopes to never have to endure a divorce, one of life's most traumatic experiences.
But some marriages deteriorate beyond repair. If you're facing a divorce, you need to know what lies ahead in the legal process. This
pamphlet will answer many of your questions.
What are the grounds for divorce in Wisconsin?
The only basis for divorce in Wisconsin
is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken." This means the husband and wife can find no way to work out their differences. A judge
usually will find a marriage irretrievably broken even if only one spouse wants a divorce.
What is the difference between a divorce
and a legal separation?
Divorce ends a marriage. Legal separation involves the same procedures as divorce, but the separated spouses
can't marry others. Legal separation is an alternative for people who wish to avoid divorce for religious or other reasons. The court
grants a legal separation on the ground that the marriage relationship is broken.
Like a divorce, a legal separation requires property
division and determination of child custody and placement. The court may order maintenance and child support payments. (More on these
topics later in this pamphlet.)
After one year, either spouse can seek to have a legal separation converted into a divorce without
the other spouse's consent. Spouses who reconcile after a legal separation may apply to have the separation revoked.
What is an annulment?
An
annulment dissolves a marriage that was invalid from the beginning. For instance, one spouse may have been too young, unable to have
sexual intercourse, incapable of consenting to the marriage, or induced to marry by fraud or force.
How long must I live in Wisconsin
before filing for divorce?
You must have been a Wisconsin resident for at least six months before filing for divorce here. Also, you
must have lived at least 30 days in the county where you file.
How does either spouse start a divorce action?
Divorce usually begins
with the filing of a petition for divorce and a summons. The petition for divorce gives the factual history of the
marriage and states the desired outcome of the divorce. The summons states that a response must be filed within 20 days.
Sometimes
the court finds it necessary to issue temporary orders, which are orders laying out the ground rules that each spouse must follow
until the final divorce hearing. If temporary orders are necessary, two additional documents must be filed. The affidavit for
temporary relief requests temporary arrangements for child custody, placement, or support, as well as any other needed provisions.
The order to show cause contains the time and date of the hearing before the family court commissioner, who establishes
the temporary orders.
After one spouse files the petition and summons with the clerk of court, these documents are served upon the
family court commissioner (in certain counties) and the other spouse. The person asking for a divorce is called thepetitioner, and
the other spouse is the respondent. Both spouses are parties to the divorce action.
Can I get divorced if I don't know
where my spouse is?
Yes, but you have to show the court that you made reasonable efforts to locate your spouse. You also must publish
a notice in a local newspaper in an attempt to inform your spouse that you have started a divorce.
If it is at all possible to find
an address, you must attempt to have notice of the divorce action served upon your spouse. The court has no power to order child support
or maintenance unless your spouse has been personally served with notice.
How long does it take to get a divorce?
Unless the court
makes an exception for an emergency, at least four months (120 days) must pass between the serving of the initial papers and the final
hearing. Most divorces take longer than four months. Several factors affect the length of the process: the complexity of the case,
the ability of the spouses to agree on the issues, and the amount of other business before the trial court.
A divorce isn't effective
until the final hearing. Once the divorce is final, both parties must wait at least six months before marrying other people.
Can my
rights be protected between the start of a divorce action and the final hearing?
Yes. Every divorce includes an order that neither
spouse can harass, intimidate, physically abuse, or impose restraints on the personal liberty of the other spouse or minor children
(under age 18) of either spouse. In addition, neither spouse can encumber, conceal, destroy, damage, transfer, or otherwise dispose
of property owned by either or both of the spouses, without the other spouse's consent or a prior order of the court or family court
commissioner. There are exceptions for actions taken in the usual course of business, in order to buy necessities, or to pay reasonable
divorce expenses, including attorney fees.
Parents who have minor children together have additional responsibilities. Neither parent
can move minor children outside Wisconsin or more than 150 miles from the other parent within the state. Neither parent can remove
minor children from Wisconsin for more than 90 consecutive days without the other parent’s consent or an order of the court or family
court commissioner. Also, neither parent can conceal minor children from the other parent.
These restraining orders apply until dismissal
of the divorce action or until the final judgment, unless the court orders otherwise. The court may punish a spouse who violates restraining
orders.
In addition, the judge or family court commissioner may issue other temporary orders that protect your rights during the divorce
process. For example, temporary orders may determine child custody and physical placement, who lives in the family home, payment of
maintenance and child support, and payment of debts.
A person disobeying a temporary order can be fined, jailed, or both. Some law
enforcement agencies, though, are reluctant to arrest a spouse for violating a divorce temporary restraining order. In cases involving
violence, one spouse may seek to restrain the other by filing a domestic abuse injunction. Law enforcement agencies generally are
more willing to act immediately on violations of an abuse injunction.
How does the court decide who gets custody and physical
placement of a child?
The term custody refers to the right to make legal decisions regarding a child, such as school choice,
religious training, medical care, and so on. The court must presume that joint legal custody is in the child’s best interests
– that is, both parents have decision-making authority,
unless there is evidence of interspousal battery or domestic abuse.
The
term physical placement refers to how much time a child spends with each parent. You often hear of "visitation," but physical
placement is now the correct legal term.
Many couples manage to work out their own agreement on child custody and physical placement.
This is the best solution for all
concerned. The two of you will no longer be spouses after divorce, but you still are parents
of your children. By agreeing on custody and placement, you will be better able to communicate with each other for years to come.
And your children are less likely to be caught in the middle of parental disputes, one of the worst after-effects of divorce.
When
couples have trouble agreeing on custody or placement, the judge or family court commissioner refers them to family court counseling.
If the spouses still fail to work out their differences, the judge decides on custody and placement based on the child's best interests.
To
make this decision, the judge weighs several factors. The court may also appoint a guardian ad litem, an attorney who represents the
child's interests. To learn more, see the State Bar's pamphlets, Answering Your Legal Questions About Custody and Placement and Answering
Your Legal Questions About Guardians Ad Litem in Family Court.
How does the court determine child support payments?
If a parent has
physical placement with the child less than 25 percent of the time, the court usually bases child support on a percentage of that
parent's gross (pre-tax) income. The standard support percentages are: 17 percent for one child, 25 percent for two children, 29 percent
for three children, 31 percent for four children, and 34 percent for five or more children. However, these percentages may be reduced
for higher income levels. In addition, the court may adjust the standard support percentages upward or downward, if it determines
that applying the standard percentages would be unfair in a particular case.
If each parent has at least 25 percent physical placement
with the child, which is known as shared placement, each parent's gross income is considered in setting child support. Though the
standard support percentages discussed above are part of the equation, the calculation is much more complex because it also considers
the amount of physical placement each parent has with the child. In addition to the child support amount set by this calculation,
shared placement parents also are responsible for the child's variable costs (such as child care, tuition, and special needs) typically
in proportion to the time that the parent has physical placement with the child.
Sometimes one or both parents are paying child support
already due to a previous divorce or paternity judgment. Under those circumstances, the court may reduce that parent's gross income
available for child support in this new case before applying the standard support percentages and calculations discussed above.
If
the court believes that either parent is shirking his or her obligation, the court may use the shirking parent's earning capacity,
instead of actual earnings, as the income from which to set child support.
Even if the parent who receives child support fails to follow
the physical placement schedule, the parent paying child support may not legally reduce or stop payments, unless that modification
is specifically approved and ordered by the court. Doing so only hurts the child.
What is maintenance?
Maintenance, formerly called
alimony, is money one spouse pays to the other during or after a divorce.
Maintenance and child support are treated differently for
tax purposes. A parent paying child support can't deduct it on his or her income tax return. And the parent receiving child support
doesn't report it as income. By contrast, the person paying maintenance can deduct it on taxes, and the person receiving maintenance
must report it as income.
How does the court decide whether to award maintenance?
A husband and wife may agree on whether maintenance
is appropriate and, if so, what the maintenance amount and duration will be. If they don't agree, the judge decides these issues.
The judge will consider:
What is a wage assignment?
A wage assignment is an order to an employer to deduct
child support or maintenance payments from an employee's pay.
When the court orders a person in a divorce to pay support or maintenance,
the order includes a wage assignment order for his or her employer. But if a wage assignment order would cause the payer irreparable
harm, the court may allow the person to pay directly to the State Child Support Collection Fund, which forwards the money to the other
spouse.
How does the court divide property?
Most of a couple's property, including assets such as retirement interests, can be divided
in a divorce. One exception is property received either as a gift from a third party or as an inheritance, although even gifts and
inheritances may be divided in some circumstances.
If the couple can't agree on how to divide property, the court decides. The court
starts with the presumption that equal division is fair and proper. But the court may alter this by considering:
What is a default divorce?
A default divorce is one in which you and your spouse have no contested issues for the court
to decide. A default hearing usually occurs soon after you file a final marital settlement agreement. This spells out all your arrangements
for support, maintenance, and asset and liability distribution.
The default hearing cannot occur until after the 120-day waiting period
expires, unless there is an emergency. At the hearing, upon approval of your agreement, the court will grant an absolute judgment
of divorce.
Don't confuse "default divorce" with "no-fault divorce." A no-fault divorce means that the petitioner need not prove wrongdoing
on the part of the other spouse in order to file for divorce. Wisconsin is a no-fault state. As noted earlier in this pamphlet, the
only legal basis for divorce in this state is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken."
What if my spouse and I can't reach an agreement?
If
you can't reach a final agreement, your case goes to trial. The trial date depends on the length of time needed for the hearing and
the court's other business. Contested divorce trials are costly and involved. The court enforces rules of evidence, which contain
many pitfalls for the unwary. The best way to avoid these is to hire an attorney.
Can spouses use the same divorce lawyer?
Ethical rules
prohibit an attorney from representing both spouses in a divorce.
Occasionally an attorney represents one spouse, and the other spouse
chooses to represent himself or herself. Divorces in which neither spouse uses an attorney also occur, particularly when the couple
has no children and/or little or no property.
Exercise caution if you go through a divorce without a lawyer. Divorce is a lawsuit,
often having hidden consequences. If you have little or no income to pay for an attorney, you may qualify for free help from a legal
services agency.