Wisconsin Child Custody Legal Questions

Has paternity been established? If you have not been to court to have paternity established in Wisconsin, or both of you have signed the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, he has no rights towards the child whatsoever. If you have had paternity established, but custody and placement are not yet resolved or ruled on by the court, you can certainly raise the issues in court of your concern over his ability to take care of and manage the child. The court will appoint a guardian ad litem (attorney) if there is a custody/placement dispute. The guardian ad litem will investigate alll of your concerns. Much depends also on the age of your child. The younger the child, the more protection you can expect from  the court. The older the child and their own ability to fend for themselves, the less protection you can expect from the court.... Read More

If you have ten years of good experience being around the child, it would be very hard for the mother to make a strong case for reducing placement of the child with the child's father. How can she make the claim? It's a free country but that does not mean of itself that every allegation made in court papers is true. If she should start a proceeding to change custody, find a skilled matrimonial lawyer in your locality. It's almost always worth the investment.... Read More

Are you talking about relocating out of state or just traveling for vacation purposes out of state? If the latter, I just wrote a blog this morning at our firm's web site on vacation time with minor children; if this is a Wisconsin case and there are court orders as to custody, there is a law that you cannot move out of state or more than 150 miles within the state from the other parent unless you first provide 60 days advance written notice by certified mail of your intention to move out of state including the reason, where, why and whether the move is designed to be permanent, and including notice to the other parent that they have the right to object within 15 days; if the other parent does object, generally a person is not allowed to move away until there is a court hearing and the judge decides whether you can move away or not. You also must provide a copy of your letter to relocate to the court as well.... Read More

First things first: find a skilled family law attorney in your area. Your lawyer might suggest moving for contempt-if the facts support it. Some lawyers try a writ of habeas corpus. You might need a lawyer where the child now resides. Your lawyer can review all the facts with you and develop a good strategy.... Read More

Custody  refers to decision making; joint custody has been the law in Wisconsin since 1987. The law presumes joint custody. I see very few cases where sole custody is granted. If you are referring to placement of your child, that you agreed that the child should be primarily placed with the father, if within 2 years from your initial court orders, you would need to prove imminent physical or emotional harm to modify custody or placement. After two years, there is a presumption that custody and placement should remain as originally agreed upon, but if there is a significant and compelling change of circumstances, you can petition to modify the placement schedule. It would be best to sit down with a custody lawyer in advance to discuss what your chances might be, how long it is going to take and what the expense is going to be.... Read More

if this is a Wisconsin case, you can either file a moiton for contempt for the mother interfering with your placement rights OR file a motion to enforce physical placement. Under the statute, the matter has to be heard within 30 days. The court also has the right to give you makeup days and appoint a court appointed guardian ad litem to advocate for your children, if necessary.  ... Read More

The answer depends in large part as to the nature of the December first Order. Was it an 'interim order,' or a 'final order' or something else. A final order cannot be modified in any major way until two years have passed, unless you can show that there is a demonstrable danger to the child's health or welfare. If it is other than a minimal change, the obstacles are high. With an interim or temporary Order, you only need to show that circumstances have changed and that the modification is in the child's best interest. Find a skilled family lawyer to advise and represent you. It's almost always worth the investment.... Read More

If there is a dispute over custody or placement, the court will appoint an attorney (guardian ad litem) to advocate for your children's best interests, if you believe the father is an alcoholic or have other concerns regarding his being "unfit," the guardian ad litem will investigate and address all of your concerns.... Read More

Is there a standing court order on custody and placement? You can't force someone to visit if they don't want to; Wisconsin really doesn't refer to a parent's refusal to visit as "abandonment." However, if enough time goes by without any visitation, you may be able to involuntarily terminate their parental rights, if it would be subject to some type of adoption or step-parent adoption.... Read More

Your message is confusing; the father of your son is living with you? Why would you need to take him to court if you two are living together? If that is not what you meant in your post, but instead, you meant to say that your son is living with you and the father is not helping with  the  bills, you can file an action to compel him to pay support. If you are not married to the father, you would have to first file an action for paternity. Once paternity is established by DNA testing, they can set custody orders, including an order that the father pay child support. If you are married to the father, you would have to file an action for legal separation or divorce and request an initial court hearing; at the first court hearing, they can establish custody, visitation and child support orders, among other various financial orders that the court may need to deal with in your case.   On the second issue, which is whether you can change the current court appointed guardian ad litem, that is very difficult to do as the  GAL is hand picked by the trial judge.  Litigants who are unhappy with the recommendations of the guardian ad litem routinely argue or advcoate that they want the guardian ad litem removed from the case. I have been practicing  for 33 years and have yet to see a judge remove a guardian ad litem for cause. It is doubtful that the court would do so in your case.... Read More

I am sorry to hear of your current situation. Are you married and going through a separation, or are you just boyfriend and girlfriend and have been living together for 11 years? The laws pertaining to property rights and spousal support will vary depending on your martial status.  If you have not been married for the 11 years, chapter 767 as to presumed 50/50 property division and spousal supoprt do not apply. Instead, equitable principles apply. The court can divide up any property or debts you have acquired in the 11 years in an equitable manner, but it may not be 50/50. If you are married, than presumptively 50/50 property division applies, and in addition to child support for your child, you may also be entitled to spousal support, depending on the facts of your case and what your respective financial situation may be. In regard to yuor child, if you are not married, the father has no rights to the child whatsoever unless he has been adjudicated to be the child's father in a  paternity case or by filing an acknowledgment of paternity that was signed by both of you (usually at the birth of the child.) Even if the voluntary acknowledgment had been properly signed and filed with the  state, until he goes to court to establish his custodial rights to the child, you stilll would have full custody of the child and he would have no rights unless those rights were established in court at a "terms hearing."  If you are married, he has a much rights to the child as you do. One of you will have to file for divorce or legal separation, and at an initial family court hearing before the court commisisoner, they will establish by court order your respective rights of placement and visitaiton for the child. The court will also deal with the hidden money he has taken from you.  I am not sure what leverage the father has against you that has you worried. The focus of the law in this state since May 2000, has been for parents  to have shared and/or equal placement of a child. Unless you are an "unfit parent," such as drug abuse, criminal problems, alcohol abuse, child neglect, child abuse, mental health problems or other factors that impair your ability to take care of your child, it is highly doubtul that the court would take the child away from you and place the child only with the father.... Read More

I am not sure I completetly understand your question. If you are not married to the father, and the father has not been adjudicated as being the biological father of the child, you automatically under the law have full custody and placement rights of the child. The (alleged) dad has no rights to the child whatsoever. If you are married, but not in any legal divorce or separation proceeding, you both have rights to the child. You can however, take the child from one residence to another, or even move away from the dad, as long as you don't "conceal" the child from the other parent. Concealment can be arguably construed as a felony kidnap crime. If you are in the middle of a divorce case  or legal separation, you should file for an initial FCC court hearing to determine temporary custody and placement rights as you go through your case.... Read More

If the custody papers allow the right of first refusal, than the mother is in contempt by not allowing the child to be with dad during her periods of placement when she is at work. The dad can file a contempt motion against the mother on this issue. If there is no right of first refusal, than his options would be to file a motion to modify the placement schedule to allow mom placement time when she is not at work so she can spend the time with the child.... Read More

If you are divorced and there are court orders as to placement, you are obligated to follow those court orders or you may be found in contempt. The only way you can withhold placement is if you have an honest and sincere belief that your child would be physically or emotionally endangered by the visitation; you better have a rock solid case, because more likely than not, they are going to serve you with a motion to find you in contempt for violating the court orders and thwarting their placement.... Read More

It certainly looks like a conflict of interest. If you are willing to risk offending a lot of people in the Courthouse, you can raise the issue with the presiding judge of the district or you might ask the judge in the case to recuse him/ or herself, You would benefit from retaining a skilled family law attorney. It's almost always worth the expense.... Read More

There is no simple answer. The law as we sit today is until there is a court filing, your wife can move anywhere she wishes, including out of state. Once a case is filed she can not move out of state but can move anywhere in the state as long as she is not denying you court ordered visitation, as the law is today. As of 1/1/16 this all changes, and depending on where you live (which county) she may not be able to move more than 25 miles if a collar county and 50 miles for other counties.... Read More

If this is an isolated event, I wouldn't be concerned, but if  it is an ongoing persistent problem and is affecting the child or their academics, your daughter needs to be concerned. Why is she sleeping int he middle of the day? Does she work third shift? How many times has she been late to school? How old is your granddaughter? What is the current placement schedule? If your daughter was late each morning in dropping off the child at school and the child had numerous tardy strikes on her record, that would be a problem at the school and for your granddaughter. I would try to sit down with your daughter and help her find a way to insure that she is up in time to promptly pick the child up at school.... Read More

If the two of you are not married, and this is a paternity case, and paternity hasn't been established, the mother has legal custody of the child under Wisconsin law and the father has no rights to the child whatsoever, in the absence of filing a motion with the court to first establish paternity, and than, requesting a "terms hearing" for the court to order their custody and placement rights to the child.  You should contact the police if your ex boyfriend is keeping the child from you, unless you have been to court and there are established court orders as to which parent has custody of the sild.... Read More