Wisconsin Divorce Legal Questions

You can report it as stolen, but then you would be telling something less than the truth. That is never a good idea when dealing with law enforcement or the courts: you are free to keep your mouth shut, but you are not free to lie. If you live in a marital (=community) property State, your wife likely has a one-half interest in the vehicle regardless of whose name is on the title. Why not move the separation or divorce action forward, and seek an Order awarding you the car? Retain a good family law attorney: it's almost always worth the investment.... Read More

With the limited facts you have provided, I would recommend asking the attorney you have in for your divorce proceedings. However, usually any inheritance a person receives would be considered their separate property.  This would mean that if someone inherits money or property from someone, that is a gift to them and is their separate property.  Accordingly, anything a person inherits usually is separate property and therefore, not taken into account if that person later divorces.  This may change if the person co-mingled the money with community property such as depositing it a joint checking account.  If they kept it in it's own account, it would stay separate property.  This is why I would recommend speaking with your divorce attorney so that you can determine how to treat an asset such as an inheritance.  ... Read More

Jurisdiction is established on where you are living at the time you file for divorce, not where you were married. Under Wisconsin law, to file for divorce, you have to be a resident for 6 consecutive months prior to filing and 30 days in the county where you reside, prior to filing. for legal separation, you only need to meet the 30 day requirement.... Read More

One would need to review your divorce decree, settlement agreement and QDRO for your pension to determine if your ex has "survivor rights" to your pension. If so, you would be in violation of the court orders to have her removed. If on the other hand, you were awarded your pension as part of your property division and she has no rights to it, you should be able to complete paper work provided by the state to remove your ex spouse as the surviving beneficiary should you die.... Read More

Gifts and inhertiances are exempt from equal property division when getting a divorce in Wisconsin.  From the way you describe the transaction, you own the house jointly with your step father. Your share was received as a gift, so that portion, in my opinion, remains exempt from the marital estate. Now, if you and your husband are living in the home together,  have a mortgage on the property and pay it together, have done major repairs or renovations on the home, by doing some or all of those things, you may have changed the character of the property into marital, and your husband would have a claim to your 50% interest in the home. You don't offer enough facts to make that leap to determine if the property has been converted to marital by your respective actions pertaining to the home, during the marriage.... Read More

The Wisconsin annulment statute offers specific reasons and factors that would entitle a person to an annulment. Unfortunately, the length of the marriage is not one of those factors. I am sorry your husband is cheating on you, but from the brief facts you have posted, your legal remedy would be separation or divorce.... Read More

When the divorce gets filed, file an order to show cause and affidavit for first hearing and request the return of your items. Make a list of specifically what you want or need back on a temporary basis during the 9 months it may take to go thru a divorce. Further, just because she "took everything," doesn't mean she gets to keep everything. The court can order an appraisal on all items she took in her possession and require her to pay you for half the value of all of those items. I would also take photographs to show the court commissioner how she stripped the place completely bare. Courts do not appreciate that kind of behavior.  Part of asking for an initial court date also involves getting custody and placement rights for your children.... Read More

If you file a counterclaim for legal separation and they filed for divorce, at some point, the trial court will need to make a decision on how  the case should proceed. I am going to speculate that since the divorce was filed first by her and if she doesn't want to stay married to you, the court would grant the divorce over the legal separation, but obviously, the court has discretion to decide the case either way.... Read More

1. On property division- All property acquired before or during the marriage, except by way of gift or inheritance from a third party is presumed to be divided equally at the time of the divorce. The court has the right to deviate from 50/50 property division based on the factors listed at s. 767.61, including, in your case, the length of the marriage and proprty brought into the mariage by either party. Another factor (not specifically listed in the statute)  but supported by case law, are your years separated, because you are separated nearly 1/2 the length of time you are married. Certainly 5 years is a short term marriage, so the court very well may deviate from 50/50 and give you back credit for property you can show you owned prior to marriage, and only include any enhanced or increased value of those assets, if any, during the marriage. 2. on custody. On the second issue, the court cannot give him placement rights to your children as they are not his. However, he has the right to petition under Wisconson's so called "grandparents' statute, " and request visitation rights to the children, if it can be found that it is in your children's best interest  to have visitation with him. ... 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

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

section 767.127 (5) of the Wisconsin statutes allows a person aggrieved of an asset worth more than $500, to petition the court “at any time” to seek their marital share by a constructive trust. This is true whether the asset was intentionally concealed or negligently omitted, such as in your case. ... Read More

Your message is sort of confusing. Is someone challenging the validity of whether you were divorced or not? Usually, you are not required to "prove" you were divorced in order to file for divorce, when remarried. I could see it being an issue if your current spouse was now alleginig you were never legally divorced, as you claim, in 1978. I also don't know if your reference to a "second divorce" in Racine County, is with the same person or you were married a second time and divorced sometime after 1978.... Read More

The answer to your question is generally no. Property division is final as of the date of the divorce and cannot be reopened or adjusted, unless you both were to agree. You could try an s. 806.07 motion to reopen the order or judgment, but  those motions are usually met with great resistance by the other side, and reluctance by the court due to wanting to keep judgments "final." Under s. 767.127, any asset  of a value of more than $500 that is either negligently or intentionally failed to be disclosed, the other party aggrieved at any time can file a petition to have a constructive trust set up on that particular asset. Gifts and inheritances are exempt from property division under Wisconsin law. While the income can be used for child support or maintenance, the "profit" would not be subject to property division. The increased value of an exempt asset may be considered divisible, if the appreciation of the asset was by active appreciation as opposed to passive appreciations. Market conditions that causes an exempt asset to increase in value, would not be subject to division. If by example, he inherited or was gifted a farm, and you both worked on the farm and built a new farm house, increased the number of cattle and saw the farm grow in value by mutual joint marital efforts, the increased value of the farm under my example would be considered a martial asset subject to division.... Read More

There is no exception under Wisconsin law that I am aware of for student debts. There is case law that indicates that student debts, whether incurred prior to marriage or during the marriage is presumptively an equal obligation. The court obviously has discretion to deviate from that presumption based on other financial considerations of the case, but the starting point is 50/50 responsibility.... Read More

if your husband wasn’t divorced from his first wife, than you two are not lawfully married. Your remedy would be to file for an annulment. Check the Wisconsin circuit court access site to check the history of his prior divorce case to see if it was completed, assuming it was a Wisconsin case.... Read More

 The answer to your question is yes and no. The  yes part, deals with trading the equity in the house for the waiver of maintenance. That you can clearly do by an  agreement. However, you cannot waive or terminate child support as that is a right that belongs  to the children. You would have to explain in your settlement agreement why child support is being held open, and  that it would be subject to modification on a change of substantial circumstances in the future in the event that she wanted child support from you. ... Read More