Wausau Divorce Lawyer

To start a divorce, your Wausau divorce lawyer will file a Summons and Petition for Divorce with the Clerk of Court. Your spouse must be served with this Summons and Petition for Divorce within 60 days after you file. There are two ways you can serve papers on your spouse: (1) Your spouse can sign an Admission of Service or (2) a process server or police department/sheriff’s department can serve the papers.  An alternate method of initiating a divorce is for both spouses to sign a Joint Petition for Divorce.  This eliminates the service requirement.  Your Wausau divorce lawyer can provide more information on beginning the divorce process.

In order to file for divorce in Wisconsin, one party — either you or your spouse — must (1) reside in the county in which the action is being filed for thirty days; and (2) reside in Wisconsin for at least six months.  You can, however, file for Legal Separation after residing in Wisconsin for only 30 days.  The legal separation can later be changed to a divorce.  Your Wausau divorce lawyer can advise you as to your filing options.

You must file a written Answer within 20 days from the date you are served with the Summons and Petition for Divorce.  This must be sent to the Court with a copy sent to your spouse or his or her attorney.  If your spouse has filed for divorce, a Wausau divorce lawyer can advise you how to respond.

In Wisconsin, with limited exceptions, a final hearing cannot be held for a minimum of 120 days after the date of service of the divorce petition.  However, the divorce process may, in fact, last much longer depending on the complexities of the case.

Since the divorce process may span many months, either party may schedule a “temporary hearing” in order to resolve urgent issues on a temporary basis such as the issues of temporary custody, physical placement, child support, spousal maintenance, and payment of debt. Temporary orders remain in effect until the divorce is finalized.

A Court Commissioner will generally preside at a temporary hearing. The Court Commissioner is essentially an assistant judge with  authority to make orders in the divorce on a “temporary basis.”

Temporary orders are not supposed to have “precedential” value at the final hearing.  Unfortunately, that is not always the case in practice.  A party that receives a favorable temporary order may have obtained a significant strategic advantage over the other party at the time of the final hearing.  Legal representation at such a  proceeding is strongly advised.

Any decision that is made by a Family Court Commissioner may be re-tried to a judge of the  circuit court upon motion of either party.

Generally, all property brought into and/or acquired during the marriage, regardless of how titled, is subject to division upon divorce. This includes assets such as pension plans, retirement accounts, vehicles, and real estate. Property acquired by gift or inheritance is generally not subject to division.

The court presumes that divisible property is to be divided equally between the parties, but can deviate from an equal division of property after considering factors such as the length of the marriage; property brought to the marriage by each party; and the tax consequences to each party.

The debts of the parties will also be allocated between the parties, but the divorce judgment assigning a debt is not binding on third-party creditors. If the parties are able, they may be required to refinance the debts allocated to them after the divorce.

After a divorce is granted in Wisconsin, the parties are required to wait six months before remarrying, even if the subsequent marriage takes place in another state.

There is no legal requirement that you hire a Wausau divorce lawyer for your divorce.  In deciding whether or not you need representation, remember:

• If your spouse hired a Wausau divorce lawyer to “write up the papers,” that lawyer does not represent you and will only be looking out for your spouse’s interests.
• Having a Wausau divorce lawyer to represent your interests is particularly important if you have been married for a number of years, have children together, or have substantial assets or debts.
• Trying to “save” money by not having a Wausau divorce lawyer may end up costing you more in the end.

In Wisconsin, joint custody means that both parents both parents participate in the important decisions relating to their children.  Neither parent’s decision takes precedence over the other’s. The parties are required to consult with each other and attempt to reach agreement with respect to major decisions affecting the lives of their minor children.  Sole custody means one parent has sole authority to make major decisions relating to the children.  Sometimes, parents have joint legal custody with regard to most issues, but one parent is awarded sole decision-making authority as to one or more important issues (such as religion or choice of school).

In Wisconsin, there is a presumption that joint legal custody is in the best interest of the child. The court may award sole legal custody only if it finds it is in the child’s best interest, and that either (1) both parties agree to sole legal custody with the same party; or (2) the parties do not agree to sole legal custody with the same party, but at least one party requests it, and the court specifically finds any of the following:

• One party is not capable of performing parental duties or does not wish to actively participate in raising the child; or
• Conditions exist that would substantially interfere with the exercise of joint legal custody; or
• The parties will not be able to cooperate in future decision-making involved in joint legal custody. Evidence of child abuse, interspousal battery, or domestic abuse raises a rebuttable presumption that the parties will not be able to cooperate in future decision-making.

The court is required to consider the following factors in determining legal custody and physical placement:

1. The wishes of the child’s parent or parents.
2. The wishes of the child.
3. The interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parent or parents, siblings, and other persons who may significantly affect the child’s best interests.
4. The amount and quality of time a parent has spent with the child, any necessary changes to the parents’ custodial roles, and lifestyle changes the parent proposes to make to be able to spend time with the child in the future.
5. The child’s adjustment to home, school, religion, and community.
6. The child’s age, and the child’s developmental or educational needs at different ages.
7. The mental and physical health of the parties, the minor children, and others living in the proposed custodial household.
8. The need for regular periods of physical placement to provide for predictability and stability.
9. Child care availability.
10. Cooperation and communication between the parties, and whether any party unreasonably refuses to cooperate or communicate.
11. Whether each party can support the other party’s relationship with the child, including encouraging frequent contact, and whether it is likely that there will be interference with the child’s relationship with the other party.
12. Whether there is evidence that a party has engaged in child abuse.
13. Whether there is evidence that a party has engaged in interspousal battery or domestic abuse.
14. Whether either party has a past or current problem with drugs or alcohol.
15. Reports of appropriate professionals, if admitted into evidence.
16. Such other factors as the court may determine to be relevant.

You Wausau divorce lawyer has significant experience in child custody and placement matters

If the parties cannot agree on a physical placement schedule, the court will allocate periods of physical placement of the child between the parties. In determining periods of physical placement, the court is required to consider the same factors, listed above, that are considered in determining legal custody. The placement schedule must allow a child to have regularly occurring, meaningful periods of physical placement with each parent and must maximize the time spent with each parent, taking into account geographic distance and accommodations for different households. A child is entitled to periods of physical placement with both parents unless the court finds that physical placement with a parent would endanger the child’s physical, mental or emotional health. Periods of physical placement may not be denied for failing to meet  any financial obligations to the child or former spouse. A court may not make a prospective order prohibiting a parent from requesting a change in physical placement in the future.  Under most circumstances, the initial placement award or agreement is not modifiable for two years.  Your Wausau divorce lawyer has significant experience in child placement matters.

With exceptions for undue hardship or endangerment to one of the parties, an initial session of mediation is required in any action affecting the family where it appears that legal custody or physical placement is contested. If an agreement is reached in mediation, it must be reviewed by the parties’ attorneys and the GAL and be approved by the court. If no agreement is reached, the matter is referred for a legal custody or physical placement study and the issues are resolved through court procedures.

When the legal custody or physical placement of a child is contested, or if there is reason for special concern regarding the welfare of the child, the court appoints a guardian ad litem (GAL) for the child. A GAL’s responsibility is to represent the best interests of the child (which may be different than the wishes of the child).  A GAL must be a licensed attorney in the State of Wisconsin, who meets the GAL special training requirements, unless waived by the Court.  The GAL will gather information, participate in negotiations, and make a recommendation to the court regarding legal custody and placement.  Often, the GAL’s recommendation is adopted by the Court.  The court will order who pays for the GAL’s fees, though they are often shared equally by the parties.  Your Wausau divorce lawyer will have significant experience in working with local GALs.

Age 18.  There is a common misconception that “older” children can decide for themselves where they want to live. While an older child’s wishes may be taken into consideration, he or she is still subject to the court order regarding physical placement.

It is common for one party to pay child support, even if he or she has the children for a significant amount of the time.  To calculate child support in Wisconsin in a shared placement situation (where each parent has the children for at least 25% of the time — at least 92 overnights per year), the court looks at the gross income of each parent and the number of overnights each child spends with each parent.

A child support calculator for shared placement cases can be found on the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families website (requires Microsoft Excel).

Special rules govern the application of the percentage standards to the following different types of payers:

• A serial family payer (a payer with an existing child support obligation who incurs an additional child support obligation in a subsequent family)
• A split-custody payer (a payer who has physical placement of at least one but not all the children)
• High income payers (earning more than $7,000 per month)
• Low income payers (earning less than $1,350 per month)

See the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families website for more tools and calculators to use in determining child support.

Ordinarily, the percentage of an obligated parent’s gross income required to be paid as support under the standard is as follows:

17% for one child;

25% for two children;

29% for three children;

31% for four children;

34% for five or more children.

Special rules govern the application of the percentage standards to the following different types of payers:

• A serial family payer (a payer with an existing child support obligation who incurs an additional child support obligation in a subsequent family)
• A split-custody payer (a payer who has physical placement of at least one but not all the children)
• High income payers (earning more than $7,000 per month)
• Low income payers (earning less than $1,350 per month)

See the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families website for more tools and calculators to use in determining child support.

Yes.  Courts generally follow the child support guidelines.  However, a court may modify the amount of support generated by applying the standard, but only if it finds, after considering a number of factors specified in the statutes, that the use of the percentage standard is unfair to the child or to any of the parties. The factors to be considered by the court in deviating from the guidelines are as follows:

1. The financial resources of the child.
2. The financial resources of both parents.
3. Maintenance payments received by either party.
4. The needs of each party to support himself or herself at a level equal to or greater than the federal poverty level.
5. The needs of any person, other than the child, whom either party is legally obligated to support.
6. If the parties were married, the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not ended in annulment, divorce, or legal separation.
7. The desirability that the custodian remain in the home as a full-time parent. • The cost of day care if the custodian works outside the home, or the value of custodial services performed by the custodian if the custodian remains in the home.
8. The award of substantial period of physical placement to both parents.
9. Extraordinary travel expenses incurred in exercising the right to periods of physical placement.
10. The physical, mental, and emotional health needs of the child, including any costs for health insurance ordered by the court.
11. The child’s educational needs.
12. The tax consequences to each party.
13. The best interests of the child.
14. The earning capacity of each parent based on each parent’s education, training, and work experience and the availability of work in or near the parent’s community.
15. Any other factors the court determines are relevant in a particular case.

Your Wausau divorce lawyer has significant experience in child support matters.

The court is permitted to set child support based on a payer’s ability to earn, or “imputed income,” beyond actual earnings. The court may consider factors such as past earnings; current physical and mental health; history of child care responsibilities of the parent with primary placement; the parent’s education, training, and recent work experience; and local job openings.

Yes.  Parties can agree that neither of them will pay child support to the other.  However, either party can request child support at a later date if there has been a substantial change in circumstances (see “Modification Proceedings” below).

Child placement orders generally cannot be modified within two years of the initial order, unless (1) the party seeking the modification shows by substantial evidence that modification is necessary because the current custodial conditions are physically or emotionally harmful to the best interests of the child; or (2) the modification will not substantially alter the amount of time a parent spends with the child. The purpose of this standard is to provide a two-year “cooling off” period during which legal custody and physical placement may not be modified except under limited circumstances, to provide time for the child and parents to adjust to the new family situation.  However, if the parties have substantially equal periods of physical placement and circumstances make it impractical for the parties to continue that placement, a court may order a substantial physical placement modification within the initial two-year period if it is in the best interests of the child.

After the initial two-year period following a divorce judgment, a court may modify an order for custody and/or physical placement if the court finds: (1) the modification is in the best interests of the child; and (2) there has been a substantial change of circumstances.  The court may not have to meet these standards if the proposed placement modification does not substantially alter the time a parent spends with the child.  There is a rebuttable presumption that continuing the child’s physical placement with the parent with whom the child resides for the greater period of time is in the best interests of the child.  Your Wausau divorce lawyer has significant experience in modification proceedings.

An award of maintenance can only be modified upon a showing that there has been a substantial change in circumstance making the original award (or denial) unreasonable or unfair.

A child support order or judgment may be modified only if the court finds that there has been a substantial change in the circumstances of the parties or of the children since entry of the last order for support. There is a presumption that there has been a substantial change in circumstances if 33 months have passed since the entry of the last child support order.

There are other circumstances that may constitute a substantial change in circumstances, including:

• A change in the obligated parent’s income;
• A change in the needs of the child;
• A change in the obligated parent’s earning capacity; and
• Any other condition the court determines to be relevant

Your Wausau divorce lawyer has significant experience in child support modification matters.