Wisconsin Child Custody Legal Questions

"Reasonable times, reasonable notice," usually means that the non custodial parent needs to contact the custodial parent and request when they want to see the child. The custodial parent has "veto power," over the request, if the request is not reasonable (usually within 24 hours) or they have plans. You can't object every time the parent requests placement or that would be considered interference and possibly subject to contempt of court. It is also "traditional" that the visiting parent do the pick up and drop offs. The visiting parent is ordinarily allowed to take the child to their home for placement, whether overnights or not. It sounds like your agreement or court orders is fairly generic and doesn't spell out who does the pick up or drop offs, or because you live 90 minutes apart, where does the visiitation take place. Unless you and the ofather can work those details out on your own, you may want to consider going back to court to have some more specific details added to the court orders to avoid ongoing conflicts over dad's visitation  with the children. ... Read More

Under Wisconsin law, the acknowledgment of paternity acts as a judgment of paternity. The only thing to determine after that are "terms" concerning the child, child custody, placement, custody, child support. Your ex boyfriend would be required, in my opinion, to file a motion to reopen the "judgment" (acknowledgment of paterntiy) under s. 806.07 for good cause, and convince the court that there is some reasonable doubt that your current boyfriend is the biolgoical father of the child. If you had sexual intercourse with both during the possible period of conception, that may give rise for the court to have concerns who the father may be. If the court were to grant such a motion for relief under s. 806.07, I could see at that point, the court ordering DNA testing for all of you and the child to derermine parentage. ... Read More

The answer to your question is yes. Under Wisconsin law, the name on the birth certificate has no legal effect. Paternity is established by either both of you signing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity or by either of you filing a formal paternity case in court, where DNA testing is typically ordered. That is a definitive test that will prove who the biological father is.... Read More

Why not send him a certified letter, return receipt requested, or else an email (with return receipt if possible on your program) notifying him of the appointment? Most MSA's and divorce decrees require notifying the other spouse having joint custody about non-emergency health care appointments in advance. And whether it is required or not, it is a good thing to do.... Read More

Assumingly, he has been criminally charged but not convicted of the alleged abuse, and based on that, I think you would run into difficulty if you applied for some type of child abuse injunction against him; you would need to show there is a correlation between his abuse of an elderly patient and how that poses a physical or emotional threat to your child. I would also want to know what type of abuse he engaged in, and what are the age of your children.... Read More

Was your agreement submitted to the court as a formal stipulation and order to make it a binding court order or is this simply an informal agreement you have with the father? If it is a formal court order, you will need to file a motion to modify it to request that the condition you live with your mother be lifted. I'm not sure anyone can answer your question on what your chances might be without knowing the whole story and have a better understanding of the facts of your case. ... Read More

In most cases, including the one you pose here, a judgment really cannot be reached without a lot more information. In general, if the parent with placement gives you permission to take her son on her placement days for a pleasurable outing, that ought to be enough. Do you know why the father objects? is he just being difficult, or is there some specific problem he sees in the boy spending this time with you? If there is no legitimate objection, and if the father does not have impasse-breaking authority, you should be okay. Any advice of this sort is necessarily tentative, because I do not have all the facts.... Read More

He can request anything from the Court-but that's a great way from his getting what he seeks. If you live in Wisconsin, and the new place 73 miles away is still within this state, you do not need anyone's permission to make the move. You should work out some proposal(s) to protect your ex-husband's placement rights, of course. And the more you can win his cooperation, the less difficult the whole affair will be.... Read More

File a motion with the court to deal with the transportation issue. The court may or may not appoint a guardian ad litem on an issue like this. It is arguably not necessasry, but the court has discretion if they feel a guardian ad litem is required. You are also talking considerable additional expense to have a guardian ad litem appointed. The court most likely, will  order you into mediation first, to see if you and the other parent can work out the issue.... Read More

First things first: if you have a matter that needs to be decided by a Court, it's almost always a good idea to retain a lawyer. As to forms, you can visit the Clerk of Court's office in your county and get copies of any of the printed forms which some people use. Generally they are free.... Read More

It does not seem likely that the father could prevail. If the grandparents are officially guardians or custodians of the child, they might want to move to terminate the birth father's parental rights. Consult an experienced family lawyer in your county. It's almost always worth the investment.... Read More

You can try. But it seems extremely difficult. The children will have adjusted to their new status, and a court would likely feel that undoing the prior termination will be unfair to them most of all. The Court will also likely tell you that a termination of parental rights is intended to be a final disposition, not one that can be reopened based on subsequent changes.... Read More