Wisconsin Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

In order to answer your question, one would need to know what the current custody and placement orders may be. If entered within in the last two years of Wisconsin, there is a law that bars either party from requesting a change of custody or placement within the first two years of the initial orders, unless it can be shown that the child is in imminent danger. After the 2 years, the burden is less, but one must show a substantial and compelling reason to modify custody or placement. there is a presumption that things should be left as is.... Read More

If there is an underlying family law case, you can petition the court for third party placement under the custody statute. You will need to show that both parents are unfit or otherwise incapable of taking care of the children. If no underlying family law case, you can file for legal guardianship of your siblings. You bear the same burden of proof of showing they are unfit or otherwise incapable of taking care of the children. ... Read More

In my opinion, you should have a lawyer present with you in court; there is much at stake; custody, placement, child support, among other issues. At a minimum, make an appointment to consult with an experienced family lawyer to see what rights you have and what can be done in court to help you. Many offer a free initial consultation. ... Read More

The answer to your question is yes; all property whether acquired before or during the marriage is presumed to be divided equally at the time of the divorce. The only property exempt are gifts and inheritances received from a third party. The court does have discretion to deviate from equal property division, using the factors under the property division statute, which would consider the length of the marriage and property brought into the marriage by either party. The length of the marriage is critical to the consideration of pre marital credit. Also, title to property does not affect ownership or equity rights under WI law.... Read More

While injury settlements are not exempt from property division under Wisconsin law, as they are not gifts or inheritances (the only items that are exempt), the case law gives discretion to the trial court to award the injury settlement to the person who was injured. The only portion of the settlement your wife may be entitled to is the portion related to medical expenses or wage loss. Much would also depend on the length of your marriage, other assets in the estate, and the ability for both of you to support yourself. No one can offer you any guarantees or promises, so you may want to consult first with an experienced family lawyer, before proceeding with the divorce.... Read More

Hey Kathy, Grandparents do have rights and your case is preety simple. Even though they can go to court for their rights, they can not take away the children from you or your husband at this time. They can get Visitation, which is the same as what many people do without court. Having grandparents baby sit them or sending kids over to weekends so parents can have quality time together. This is something you can do on your own because of its simplicity. If you do decide to get a lawyer, they might charge anywhere from $2,500 to $4,000. Representing yourself with help of a legal specialist doing the paperwork and walking you through the process as a Pro Se may be an option. If you think you can represent yourself in court you can save 50% of the above price by utilizing our document preparation service and etc. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager at 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com for clarification.... Read More

You will need to show the amount of your loss in what you indicate was an error on the part of the tax preparer. Also to sue for professional malpractice, you will need an expert (accountant) who would be able to come to court and testify as to what the tax preparer did wrong, and how you were harmed as a result. Depending on the amount invovled, it may or may not pay to pursue a lawsuit.... Read More

You shouldn't be negotiating an injury settlement while you are still treating. The value of your case is multi-faceted and includes how long you are under treatment, whether you miss time from work, how the accident happened, the nature of your medical treatment, the size of your medical bills and whether or not you make a complete recovery. I would also want to know that caused the double sliding door at Wal Mart to hit you. If an automatic door, did it fail?  Have you had the door inspeceted by an engineer to determine the cause of failure? Remember that more likely than not, Wal Mart has video surveillance of how the accident occured. Were there witnesses to the accident? Under Wisconsin law, an injury lawsuit must be brought within 3 years from the date of your accident. Failure to file a lawsuit within three years from the date of the accident would forever bar your claim.  On your last issue, when you do settle, any subrogated health insurance carriers, whether public or private, need to be reimbursed for payment of your medical bills. ... Read More

The fact that a doctor who specializes in ALS indicates that you don't have it, I would think, would be good news to you given the prognosis that is usually given to a patient who has ALS. There is obviously some medical issue that you have that is causing you to have the muscle twitching and feet cramping, among other ways whatever medical problem you have is showing as physical symptoms. I  would suggest seeing another physician and getting a second opinion of what may be going on with you, whether ALS or otherwise. Obviously, you need to get to the bottom of what is causing your problems and depending on the diagnosis, what can be done to help you. I don't view this as a medical malpractice case at all. ... Read More

The tax refund is marital money, whether it is looked at as income or an asset. File a motion before the court commissioner to request your half of the refund or you can wait to bring it up as part of finalizing your divorce case. It was also a bad decision for her to file married but separate, as usually the joint married tax rates are better than filing separate but married. ... Read More

You shouldn’t be talking to the insurance company at all about a settlement offer, while you are still treating for your injuries. Do you have photographs or witnesses who can prove the door way was faulty or have hired an engineer to review the premises to prove fault? Without that, if you have to file a lawsuit, your case may be very hard to prove. The statute of limitations for personal injury in WI is 3 years to sue; failure to file a lawsuit within three years from the date of your occurrence will forever bar your claim.... Read More

One would need more facts to answer your question, so I can only answer it generally. Under Wisconsin law, when getting a divorce, all property, whether acquired before or during the marriage, it is presumed to be divided equally at the time of the divorce. The only property that is exempt is property acquired by gift or inheritance from a third party. If your wife can show that she acquired this money from her family by way of gift or inheritance, and kept it separate and distinct from the marital estate, it would be exempt from property division. The only exception would be if she commingled the separate asset into the marital estate or if you can show it would create a hardship not to divide the separate asset.... Read More

Under Wisconsin law, when going through a divorce, all property, whether acquired before or during the marriage is subject to equal property division. The only property that is exempt is property acquired from a third party by way of gift or inheritance. It appears in your case that your spouse inherited money of some sort, and deposited into a joint marital account. By doing so, it is presumed that  they changed the character of the exempt asset, and by doing so, arguably it is now become marital property. They would have to explain why they deposited into a  a joint account instead of a separate account and what the time line was from making the deposit to when the money was taken out again. If they argue it was simply a matter of convenience to do so that way, and  the money within a very short time frame was taken out again, it is possible the trial judge might consider their intent and the tracing of the asset as factors to keep it separate from the marital estate. If on the other hand, the money sat in the account for months on end or any of it was used for marital purposes, it becomes a much more difficult argument for them to make. The other part of your post that is confusing is that the money is now apparently out of the account and reinvested with your in laws. Who did they inherit the money from, and why did your spouse give the money to your in laws? Also your post doesn't indicate whether you are in an intact family or may be going through a divorce. My answer to your question and post is in the context of a divorce only, under Wisconsin law.... Read More

It sounds to me from your post, that you and your husband need to have a serious discussion about your family and your feelings. If he is pursuing in court trying to get primary placement of his six year old, and you are against the idea of the child living in your home, your feelings need to be conveyed to your husband. He may be spending a consdierable amount of money in attorney's fees in the custody case, let alone his time and effort in trying to secure getting placement, when it appears, you are completely against the idea. Before things get any further along, you two need to talk in my opinion. The guardian ad litem and/or social worker, owe no duty of confidentiality to you, in answer to your question. ... Read More

Medical malpractice cases in Wisconsin are next to impossible to pursue and win. The insurance company for the doctor will routinely deny the claim and force you to file a lawsuit. 9/10 lawsuits on malpractice cases are lost at a jury trial, with the juries siding for the docotor. I wrote a blog at our law firm's web site on the difficulty of pursuing a  medical malpractice casse in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee- Journal Sentinel a year or so, also wrote an excellent article on why medical malpractice cases are practically non-existent anymore in Wisconsin. You can google it to read the article. If you do feel you were wronged, you will need to get all of your medical records together and have them reviewed by a malpractice lawyer. The statute of limitiations to sue for medical malpractice in WI is three years from the date of the occurrence or the claim is forever barred. You indicated that this started 5 years ago, so the time line may bar your claim even if you had one. While there is a "discovery" exception, it is limited to generally one year after the discovery of malpractice, if outside of the 3 year limitation, but in no case can be more than 5 years. The easiest way to remember the rule is that  three years is the limitation and any attempt to file a lawsuit more than 3 years later will be met by the doctor's insurance company filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and seeking costs for filing beyond the 3 year statute of limitations. It would be best to talk to an experienced malpractice lawyer directly first, before you do anything, given the time line involved in your case.... Read More

if you were properly served with a subpoena, you are compelled by law and must honor the subpoena by coming to court. You don’t indicate whether you are a witness, the petitioner or the respondent. A person can claim their 5th amendment rights and refuse to testify, if their testimony may result in self incrimination. ... Read More

if you have the accident report, if it lists the insurance company for the adverse driver, contact their insurance company to have your car fixed. If they carry no insurance, you can pay your deductible and have your own insurance cover the damage. Another option if they were uninsured is to sue them in small claims court, if your damages are less than $10,000. I’m assuming this is a property damage claim only, since your post does not indicate that you were injured in the accident.... Read More

Under federal law, the custodial parent claims the child tax dependency exemption, unless waived by the custodial parent or as ordered by the court. In addition, the custodial parent must  sign IRS waiver form 8332 in the year where the non custodial parent claims the child. Whether arrears are owed or not, is irrelevant to the question of entitlement to claim the exemption, unless there is something spelled out in your court papers that the non custodial parent can’t claim the exemption, where it is allocated to them, if there are any arrears of was record . If your ex served you with a contempt motion and you have claimed the exemption improperly, they may order you to amend your return without claiming the child, which would remedy the situation with her filing an amended return as well claiming the child or the court could order you to pay whatever tax loss she can prove by the difference of claiming the child as opposed to not claiming the child. Effective 1/1/18, for your information, under the new tax reform act, all personal exemptions have been eliminated, including the child tax dependency exemption. The child tax card credit has been increased from $1,000 to $2,000.... Read More

Assuming you are past the 2 year “cooling off” period from your initial custody orders, you will need to overcome the presumption that custody should remain “as is” by providing compelling and substantial reasons why placement should be changed. The fact that your 16 year old wants to come and live with you, if the other parent objects, is not going to be enough in my opinion, to sustain a motion for modification of placement. The wishes of the child is a factor, among many factors, that the court will need  to consider on your motion to have the child come and live with you.... Read More

When you say being sued by a futures broker, do you mean that an NASD arbitration has been commenced against you?  If so, it sounds like you should look for a litigator who has experience in NASD arbitrations; if not, just a litigator with experience in securities law cases.  As to whether you can countersue the broker, do you have any basis to claim that the broker owes you money?  If so, you can countersue (although you may, depending on the nature of the claim and the provisions of your contract with the broker, have to assert your claim or claims in a separate proceeding); if not, but you simply contend that you don't owe the broker money, tha tis not a counterclaim, but merely a defense.... Read More