Wisconsin Divorce Legal Questions

It depends what county you live in, but most family court commissioner first hearings are held informally, and evidence and witnesses are typically not allowed. It would be best to check with the FCC's clerk in the county where your case is pending, if you do plan to bring witnesses on whether that would be allowed or not and what they would be testifying to in court. Most initial hearings are held informally, meaning, the parties are not under oath and there is no court reporter in the room, which is why bringing witnesses routinely, doesn't make too much sense. You need to know your case and what specifically you are asking the court to do that day. If you don't have a clear idea of what you want accomplished, the hearing will not go very well for you. Usually, initial hearings focus on "kids' issues," such as custody, placement child support and other financial issues affecting children or the family. If you don't have children involved, than what are you specifically asking the court to do? Since you give no facts at your post, it is difficult to answer your question in any more detail..... Read More

You refer in your post to your “ex-wife.” If you are already divorced presumably your pension would have been dealt with in your divorce decree. If you are simply referring to your wife, rather, as your (soon to be ex wife), I know nothing in the Wisconsin divorce code as to why your pension wouldn’t be fair game in your divorce, whether she is a U.S. citizen or not. Under Wisconsin law, all property acquired either before or during the marriage is subject to equal property division. The only property that is exempt, is property acquired by gift or inheritance.      I can also surmise if your wife is not a United Stares citizen, that you must be married a relatively short period of time. The court has authority to deviate from equal property marriage based on the length of the marriage and property brought into the marriage by either party, along with the relevant other factors under the property division statute.... Read More

In order to receive an increase in maintenance post judgment, you will need to show the court that there has been a significant and substantial change in circumstances. If you are asking for an increase, you bear that burden. If he has asking for a decrease, he bears that legal burden. So the answer to your question yes, providing you can meet the legal test of a  "substantial change."... Read More

There is no good answer to your problem. You can't force someone to be nice to you who is a jerk. Your only possible remedy may be a harassment action against him, but one would need more information from you on what types of things he is saying to you, and how often, to determine if you fall within the confines of the harasssment statute. ... Read More

If you are in the SE Wisconsin area, the local courthouses have free legal clinics where an attorney may be able to help you. You can try the Milwaukee Justice Center at the Milwaukee County Courthouse daily. Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington have similar clinics but only once a week or so. You would need to contact the courthouse where your case is pending to find out if a limited free legal clinic would be available to you and what their days/hours might be that they are open.... Read More

Jurisdiction for divorce is established by residency in the state where you are now living, not where you were married. If you reside here in Wisconsin, you must be a resident of the state for 6 consecutive months and the county you live in for 30 days prior to filing. If you meet that requirement, you csnnfild for divorce. You will need to hire a process server prvsheroff to personally serve the divorce papers on your spouse. If they can't be found, after reasonable attempts have been made to have the papers served, you can resort to what is called, "substituted service." This allows mailing the pairs and publishing in the newspaper. Once all of that is accomplished and assuming no response from your spouse, you should be able to proceed with a default divorce in Wisconsin. ... Read More

Read your fee agreement; many family lawyers write into their fee agreement that if your case makes it to the pre-trial level, and the case doesn't settle, you may be required to pay an additional advance fee (retainer) to complete the case. If the fee agreement doesn't specifically state that, you would not be obligated to pay a second retainer.... Read More

The answer to your question is most likely no further r two reasons; 1. Unless you were awarded a portion of your ex husband's pension at the time of your divorce, property division issues are final and you could not go back now to  seek your portion and 2. There is a 20 year statute of limitations on enforcing judgments in Wisconsin, and your 1984 divorce is well beyond the 20 year limit.... Read More

the answer to your question is immediately upon being married legally in the state of Wisconsin, all property acquired either before or during the marriage is subject to equal property division. The only property that is exempt is property acquired from a third party as a gift or inheritance. The court has discretion to deviate from equal property division on a short term marriage after considering all the statutory factors. In terms of support, it may be very difficult to get an award of spousal support in a short 2-3 year marriage absent exigent and extraordinary circumstances.... Read More

wisconsin is a marital property law state. He has a right to take 50% of the bank account proceeds; however, he should be aware he is also responsible for 50% of the debts and financial obligations, so that is not just free money for him to do whatever he wants with it. The bills still must somehow get paid. Once the divorce gets filed, either party can request an initial first court hearing before the court commissioner and if the parties do not have an agreement, the court will set orders on  support, finances, what bills have to get paid, etc., among other temporary issues.... Read More

Does your MSA include a requirement that he sign such a deed? or does the divorce decree? If so, then you can file a motion to have him held in contempt. If that won't work, there are more technical ways you can get the deed if you are entitled to it. It's a good idea to consult a lawyer in matters such as these. It's almost always worth the investment.... Read More

Gifts and inheritances are exempt from property division in a divorce under Wisconsin law, when received before or during the marriage from a third party; if you trust your sister that she is buying the property for you and at some point down the road will transfer appropriate title to you, you could ptoceed  by having the property titled in her name; if you proceed by her giving you the money now so you can purchase the property on your own and have it titled in your name, you may find the title company refusing to allow you to close on the property in the middle of a divorce without first providing a copy of your  divorce decree proving you are already divorced or your spouse signing a chapter 766 waiver form relinquishing marital property rights to the home you are purchasing.... Read More

isn't it the other way around? You don't trust your lawyer's judgment or apparent lack of knowledge on basic tax issues when going through a divorce. Have you asked your lawyer these questions; how long have you been in practice? How many divorce cases have you handled? How many divorce trials have you had? Have you handled cases similar mine in the past? Have you dealt with the division of retirement benefits  in a divorce before and if so, how many times? Have you attended continuing legal education classes that deals specifically in divorce law and/or taxation issues? Do you handle  other cases in different areas of the law or only family law cases? The long and short of it is that you apparently hired a lawyer who appears to be arguably inexperienced as a divorce lawyer and lacks apparently, even basic understanding of the tax discount necessary on retirement benefits. I don't know all the facts and haven't heard your lawyer's side of the story; but based on what you have posted, I would have concerns whether this lawyer is the right one for you and if you feel comfortable with her, and want to have her continue representing you, she should certainly remove from your bill any charges that relate  with her own education or gathering information in how retirement benefits get taxed in a divorce.... Read More

Applying a tax deduction to retirement benefits is normal when parties are getting a divorce. The reason for that is that retirement benefits are tax deferred. The usual deduciton is 20%. If  you are both keeping your own retirement benefits, it is normal and proper to do the 20% tax discount.  If the retirement benefits are going to be divided equally by qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs), you  don't need the 20% discount as you will both simply pay the taxes on the money when  it is drawn out or received at retirement. There is nothing sinister or inappropriate with your spouse's attorney advocaitng the 20% deduction.... Read More

Significantly, more information is needed in order to provide a legal analysis of immigration issues related to the possibility of becoming married to your boyfriend. There really is no substitute for you and your boyfriend to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies to attain your goals, and who then could offer legal representation in the often complex application process.... Read More

I guess from your post it is self evident why you two are getting a divroce. Your husband cannot be trusted either finanically or as part of your relationship.  How long are you married? What is the value of the home? What is the loan payoff? Is there sufficient equity that at the same of your home, it may be used to pay off his judgment liens against him? If not, and there is little or no equity, your other option might be to consider filing bankruptcy on the judgment liens, either jointly or separately. Have you talked to a bankruptcy attorney?  If you are considered about him selling off marital property or disposing it, you are well advised to file a divorce action as soon as possible and serve him with papers. There are restraining orders served with the divorce papers that prevent either party from selling or otherwise disposing marital property without consent or by order of the court, exccept for certain limited exceptions. If you can't afford an attorney, you may want to check with the clerk of courts in the county where you reside or where the divorce will be filed. Many counties, particualry in the larger communities are offering limited free legal advice clinics where lawyers come in and volunteer to help people like yourself who may be limited finacnialy with hiring a lawyer. They can help fill out the forms and provide some limited legal advice.  Most of those same clinics also offer a list of not for profit lawyers that they can refer you to to see if someone can help you either free of charge or with signficantly reduced fees.... Read More

While I can't speak for every divorce attorney, most attorney's will want a retainer (advanced fee) up front before taking the case and most bill at their hourly rate. What you are proposing poses a big risk for the lawyer that either they don't get paid at all or the settlement isn't sufficient to cover the fees involved. Attorneys also in Wisconsin  cannot use a contingency contract for payment of fees in a divorce.... Read More