Pre Divorce

  1. Legal Separation vs. Divorce

    What is Legal Separation? A Legal Separation is different than simply living apart. Physically separating is not the same as legally separating. If you physically separate without taking any further legal action, you remain legally married—and will continue to enjoy (or suffer) all the rights and responsibilities that come with it.  Legal Separation creates a…

  2. Choosing the Right Milwaukee Divorce Lawyer for Mediation

    Mediation vs. Litigation: Choosing the Right Path with a Milwaukee Divorce Lawyer Divorce doesn’t have to mean a loss of control over your future. The decision to opt for mediation or litigation can significantly impact your divorce process and outcome. In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of mediation over litigation and how partnering with…

  3. The Importance of Hiring a Family Law Attorney in Milwaukee

    People often ask, “Do I even need to hire a Milwaukee divorce lawyer?” The short answer is, “no.” However, you also don’t need to hire an obstetrician to deliver your baby. Nature will take its course with or without the doctor there. But sometimes it is nice to have someone who can intervene when there…

  4. Vaccination Disputes in Child Custody Matters

    When Parents Disagree on the COVID-19 Vaccination The Food and Drug Administration just announced that children 12 to 15 years old are now eligible to receive the Pfizer Covid vaccine. Children as young as 6 months old may soon be able to receive the vaccine after ongoing clinical trials are complete. But what happens when…

  5. When can we legally sell or refinance the house in a divorce?

    The Answer Depends on Your Goals (and Your Relationship with your Spouse). Whether or not you sell or refinance your house will depend on several considerations: Does one of you want to keep living in the house? Can that person afford the house on his or her own? How good is your credit? Can you…

  6. Is it illegal to change locks during a divorce?

    No. It is not illegal to change the locks . . . however, it can get complicated. Changing Locks During Separation or Divorce Legal Separation and Divorce are virtually the same in Wisconsin. They both legally end a marriage and the legal process is nearly identical for both. Therefore, this article applies equally to legal…

  7. Emancipation in Wisconsin

    What does an emancipation of a child mean? “Emancipation” refers to a child becoming a legal adult. How to Get Emancipated In Wisconsin there is no legal process for emancipation. Children cannot “divorce” their parents and declare themselves independent via a court process. At what legal age can a child emancipate themselves from their household?…

  8. What Happens With Stimulus Payments in a Divorce?

    Are you and your spouse living apart? Are you wondering where your stimulus check will land? What happens if your spouse takes your check? And do parents have to share stimulus money received for the children? Why did we each get stimulus checks for the same child? Learn the answers to these questions and more!…

  9. What Happens To An Adopted Child During (and After) A Divorce?

    Did you and your spouse adopt a child? Did you adopt your stepchild and make him your own? Are you worried that adopted children may be treated differently in a divorce? Parents of adopted children need not fear! Read on for reassurance about how your relationship with an adopted child continues after a divorce. Modern…

  10. Child Custody vs. Child Placement: What is the Difference?

    Custody and Placement are two family law concepts that are often confused or used interchangeably. However, they are very different and are, in some ways, not even related! In Wisconsin, child custody refers to the right of a parent to make major decisions for the child. Major decisions include such things as consent to marry,…

  11. Why Should I Hire a Lawyer to Handle My Divorce?

    . . . For all the same reasons you should hire a surgeon to perform your surgery. In some ways, hiring a lawyer versus representing yourself is like the difference between plastic surgery with a scalpel and plastic surgery with a chain saw. A skilled divorce lawyer can help divide your marital estate and time…

  12. How Long Does It Take to Get a Divorce?

    A Minimum of Four to Six months (or More). It takes a long time to get divorced in Wisconsin. In fact, it takes longer in Wisconsin than in almost any other state. This is because Wisconsin has a mandatory 120-day “cooling off” period between the time a divorce is filed and the time it can…

  13. Do I Need a Prenuptial Agreement?

    Before you and your fiancé say your “I do’s”, it may be in your best interests to consider signing a prenuptial agreement. While no one likes to think about the possibility of divorce, especially before you’ve even wed, the truth is that forever is a long time, and there is no guarantee or requirement that…

  14. What Is A Contested Divorce?

    Contested Divorce: When Couples Can’t Agree Couples often get divorced when they can agree only one on thing: that they don’t want to be married anymore. However, there are many decisions that go into the dissolution of a marriage. A contested divorce is a divorce in which the court makes these difficult decisions for you…

  15. COVID-19 Pandemic & Divorce: What You Need To Know

    We’ve Temporarily Taken Our Practice Digital Thanks to technology, our attorneys can still offer the same award-winning service to their Milwaukee-area clients despite the current pandemic. Fill out the form below to set up a 100% confidential, no-pressure online divorce consultation. Prefer to call? (414) 453-0800 During this time, our staff and attorneys continue to…

  16. Child Custody Calculator in Wisconsin

    CALCULATING CHILD CUSTODY IN WISCONSIN Is there a way to calculate who gets custody of minor children when going through a divorce in Wisconsin? There are basically two forms of placement of minor children in Wisconsin when going through a divorce; a. Primary Placement. This traditional placement arrangement puts the children primarily in one parent’s home…

  17. How to prove a parent is “unfit.”

    Almost every other phone call or on line inquiry we receive, concerns a post judgment custody issue where someone wants to prove or allege the other parent is “unfit.” The idea is they want to obtain primary placement of the children, and in many cases, also involves pre-judgment matters. How do you go about proving…

  18. When do “variable costs” apply in Wisconsin?

    What are “variable costs?”  Wisconsin DCF 150 (29) defines “variable costs” as the reasonable costs above basic support costs incurred by or on behalf of a child, including but not limited to the cost of child care, tuition, a child’s special needs, and other activities that involve substantial cost.   2. When do “variable costs”…

  19. Wisconsin Adultery Laws

    Learning that your spouse has been unfaithful to you can be a painful shock. That can be especially true if you have children or if you’ve been married for an extended time. As such, you might seek out help determining what to do about their infidelity. You’ll need to understand Wisconsin adultery laws, first, so…

  20. Finding the right divorce lawyer

    I have written previous blogs about how one goes about to find a divorce lawyer. Today’s topic is about finding the right lawyer for you in a family law case. You need to have a mindset from day one, about what type of a lawyer you are looking for. Are you looking for a lawyer…

  21. Are Sick Leave accounts subject to property division in Wisconsin?

      Just when you thought you had heard everything that a couple might be fighting about in a divorce case, you stumble across a new issue or asset pertaining to whether a person’s accrued sick time or sick leave account is subject to equal property division in Wisconsin? It appears over the years the answer…

  22. Name on a birth certificate.

    There probably isn’t a day that goes by where I read a question posted on Avvo or Lawyers.com or we receive at our web site, about placing the father’s name on a child’s birth certificate to determine that they are the father. We are obviously talking about a situation here where the child is born…

  23. Bringing false charges of abuse in a divorce

    It has happened numerous times in my career, that at the onset of a divorce action, one of the parties is accused of abuse, whether it be domestic violence against their abuse, or in some cases, child abuse. These allegations are brought contemporaneously with the divorce or separation filing, usually to get an upper hand…

  24. All things must pass

    The title for my blog today is taken from the first solo album by George Harrison after the Beatles broke up. It’s the name of the double album and a song on the record. It’s fitting because this past week my mother passed. While she had been ill over the last 30 days, it was…

  25. “I want 50/50 placement!”

    We meet with a lot of individuals going through a divorce who come  into the office and advocate that they want “50/50 placement.” To me, that is like nails on a chalkboard because it really tells us nothing. It is particularly annoying when they make the same advocacy to the guardian ad litem and/or the…

  26. Release of medical records in a custody battle.

    The other day I wrote a blog on the physician- patient privilege in Wisconsin, and under what circumstances it can be waived. One of those circumstances under Wisconsin law does not cover when parties are contesting custody of their minor children. So, the question becomes what is a party required to do when the court…

  27. Can you sue your spouse for cheating in Wisconsin?

    From a Practical Perspective, No. Wisconsin used to have a law against “alienation of affection.” This allowed a party to sue anyone thought to be responsible for the breakup of their marriage–including therapists, clergy members, or mothers-in-law. Under this statute, the victim of adultery could even sue his or her spouse’s paramour. However, that statute…

  28. Recorded Telephone Conversations in Wisconsin

    An interesting question is whether someone can record a telephone conversation in Wisconsin and then use that as evidence in a courtroom as part of going through a divorce or separation case? Wisconsin is a  “one party”  wiretap state. It is not necessarily illegal to wiretap or record someone, without their knowledge or consent. Whether…

  29. Court Sanctions in Wisconsin

    Sometimes litigants going through a civil matter, do not understand the significance of complying with court orders or rules and laws that govern pre-trial matters. There is a duty to cooperate with discovery under Chapter 804; that means timely complying with discovery requests, such as written interrogatories, that must be answered under oath within 30…

  30. Admission of Personal Service

    The other day I discussed whether it mattered who filed first. In most cases it routinely does not, but if the parties are separated and living in different counties, or different states, it can certainly matter, and where minor children are involved, can affect jurisdiction of the court to proceed. When filing for divorce in…

  31. Lawyer Response Time

    I take a lot of phone calls from people looking to replace their current lawyer and the number one complaint seems to be that their lawyer never calls them back. No one likes being ignored. What exactly should the response time be back from your lawyer? What is reasonable? What are your own expectations? What…

  32. Using a GPS tracking device on your spouse; Is it against the law in Wisconsin.

    You think your spouse may be cheating on you and you don’t feel like spending thousands of dollars by hiring a private investigator to follow them around to prove it. Instead, you think of placing a GPS tracking device on your spouse’s car. By doing that you can track their every move, see where they…

  33. Preparing for an initial divorce hearing in Wisconsin

    You filed for divorce and have been waiting anxiously to get into court for your first divorce hearing before the court commissioner. You have no idea on how to prepare or what to expect in court, other than you have concerns on what orders the court may make pertaining to placement of your children, how…

  34. Pre-Marital Assets; exempt under Wisconsin law?

    I have been getting a lot of questions and inquiries lately on how pre-marital assets are treated in a divorce case under Wisconsin law. Are the assets exempt from property division or are they divisible under Wisconsin law? All property in a divorce case in Wisconsin, whether acquired before the marriage or during the marriage…

  35. Is Wisconsin a 50/50 state for divorce?

    It is surprising that most people don’t know the answer to this question. We are frequently asked the question and the answer is yes. Wisconsin, since 1977, has been a marital property law state when it comes to a family getting a divorce or legal separation in Wisconsin. This means that there is a legal…

  36. Does a birth certificate establish paternity in Wisconsin?

    The answer to the headline to today’s blog is no, at least not under Wisconsin law. This is a frequently asked question where people believe that if a person’s name goes on the birth certificate, that legally establishes the person as being the biological father. This is legally incorrect. There are two ways that paternity…

  37. Contesting a restraining order

    Your spouse or former significant other has threatened to go to the courthouse and obtain some type of restraining order against you. Is there any way to prevent them from doing so, or to fight the matter in court? You can’t really prevent someone from access to the courthouse if they want to pursue a…

  38. Automatic right to equal placement in Wisconsin?

    I sometimes talk to prospective clients who seem to have the idea that they have an automatic entitlement to equal placement of their children when getting a divorce. Does the law presume equal placement? Does the custody statute refer to the words shared or equal placement? Does a person have a constitutional right to equal…

  39. Another one bites the dust

    Remember the Queen song from the early 80’s, “another one bites the dust?” That is the headline for my blog today, which deals with lawyer misconduct, once again. Too often, I am picking up my morning newspaper and wind up reading an article about another local lawyer who has been disbarred or is facing criminal…

  40. Waiver of the 120 day waiting period in Wisconsin

    I am a huge  Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ fan and they have a song entitled, “The Waiting (is the hardest part).”  What  I really want to focus on in today’s blog,  is the fact that under Wisconsin law, an individual has to wait 120 days before they can be divorced and under what circumstances,…

  41. Calling the police?

    We are frequently asked on family law matters, should the person call the police? It many times involves visitation disputes, and sometimes property disputes. The general answer I give is no, because in most cases, I don’t find that the police will intervene, since no crimes have been committed, and many times, the police inform…

  42. Can Marriage Feel Like Slavery?

    Tonight, Jewish people around the world celebrate Passover. The Passover story is based on the chapter of Exodus from the bible. It tells the great story of how God saw the Hebrews who were enslaved by the Egyptians and their great suffering. God intervened and revealed himself to Moses to go back to Egypt and…

  43. Failure To Serve On Time

    I received a question from a prospective client the other day on what to do about their divorce case. It seems that they filed, and either forgot or failed to follow through with proper service as required under Wisconsin law. Under sec. 801.02 (1) of the Wisconsin Statute, all papers must be served within 90…

  44. Can You Secretly Divorce Your Spouse?

    In an interesting story out of New York City this past week, a woman who is 59 years old, is suing her husband, who is 90 years old, after being married for over 20 years, after he secretly divorced her, just a few short months after they were initially married. The reason the husband claims…

  45. What Are My Rights When It Comes To Cohabitating?

    When a couple live together without the benefit of being married, in a cohabitation, non-marital relationship, they are not afforded the protection of the family code, under Chapter 767 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Wisconsin does not recognize common law marriages. This means that you cannot receive spousal support, and there is no presumptive 50/50 property…

  46. Statute of Limitations on Divorce Judgments?

    Very few people realize that there is a statute of limitations in Wisconsin for enforcing a judgment. While applicable in civil judgments, it is also also applicable in family law cases. If you have any issues with your divorce case that either need modification or enforcement, if you fail to act by filing a motion…