PRACTICE AREAS

Divorce

Property Division

Child Custody & Physical Placement

Child Support

Family Mediation

Spousal Maintenance

Relocation

Paternity

Termination of Parental Rights

Temporary Restraining Orders

Grandparent Rights

Divorce

Realizing that a marriage has reached an end is one of the most difficult, life-altering decisions a spouse will make in their life. Understandably so, Divorce and Family Law are two of the most emotion evoking areas of law, which is why you need an attorney who will fight for your best interests. You do not need to go through this experience alone. As an experienced attorney serving Southern Wisconsin, I will represent your best interests in pursuit of a favorable outcome.

Divorce Breakdown:

  1. Decide to file the Petition jointly or if only one party will;

  2. Decide if a Temporary Hearing is needed if the parties are unable to agree on child custody, child placement, child support, use of the family residence, use of automobiles, payment of bills, and payment of maintenance;

  3. File Summons and Petition;

  4. Serve pleadings and other necessary documents on opposing party;

  5. If needed attend Temporary Hearing to get a Temporary Order for the issues listed above;

  6. If there are minor children, complete parenting program requirements and file required Parenting Plans;

  7. Schedule a date and time for the next hearing;

  8. Complete a Marital Settlement Agreement;

  9. Complete Financial Disclosure Statements;

  10. Complete Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Judgment of Divorce;

  11. Complete Vital Statistics Form;

  12. Attend final hearing; and

  13. Complete all documents that are required post final hearing.

Property Division

Wisconsin is a community property state. This means that all marital property, including assets such as retirement interests, will be divided 50/50 in divorce, legal separation, or annulment. An exception to this law is separate property received as a gift from a third party or as an inheritance. However, under certain circumstances even separate gifts and inheritances may be divided; especially if there is commingling.

If the couple can agree on how to divide property, the court will likely approve of the property division agreement. This is pursuant to the presumption that equal division is fair and proper.

If the couple can’t agree on how to divide the property, the court will decide under the presumption that equal division is fair and proper. In order to meet this standard, the court may distribute property differently. The factors the court may use in dividing marital assets are:

  • The length of the marriage;

  • The property each spouse owned prior to the marriage;

  • Substantial assets of one spouse that the court can’t divide;

  • Each spouse’s contributions to the marriage;

  • The ages, physical, and emotional health of each spouse;

  • Each spouse’s earning capacity and whether one spouse’s contribution increased the earning power of the other;

  • Awarding the family home, or the right to live there, to the spouse with primary placement of minor children; and

  • Any other factors the court deems necessary in determining property division.

Negotiating property division can go smoothly or become convoluted and stressful. I’ve negotiated many successful property divisions and I’ve seen spouses drag out the process, because they don’t want the other spouse to have certain assets based on principle. Going through a divorce is difficult and spouses can get emotionally charged, during negotiations. This is why hiring an attorney with experience in this area is paramount. Let me handle the negotiations to alleviate some of the stress property division may bring.

Child Custody & Physical Placement

One of the main concerns parents face in divorces with minor child(ren), is how child custody and physical placement will be established. After filing the divorce papers, my client and I will fill out a Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) and a Proposed Parenting Plan. The FDS and Proposed Parenting Plan should be filled out immediately after filing the divorce papers.

The court requires that an FDS be filled out in order to disclose assets and debts. Both spouses are required to fill out a FDS. The FDS is a vital part of the divorce process, but is also used to help calculate child support payments.

Child Custody is the right to make legal decisions regarding the minor child(ren). These legal decisions include:

  • Choosing the school the child(ren) will attend;

  • Deciding on religion; and

  • Making medical choices for the minor child(ren).

Pursuant to statutory law, the court must presume that joint legal custody is in the child’s best interests. Joint legal custody means that both parents have decision-making authority. An exception to the presumption of joint legal custody is present if there is evidence of domestic abuse or interspousal battery.

Physical Placement establishes the amount of time a child spends with each parent.

By preparing a Proposed Parenting Plan, most spouses are able to negotiate their own Parenting Plan. When both spouses negotiate or mediate a mutually agreeable Parenting Plan, they are beginning to implement how both parties will co-parent. The Parenting Plan is the first step in establishing how current and future co-parenting will work. The goal is to minimize the child’s exposure to the divorce and to create smooth transitions between the parents.

If spouses are unable to come to a mutually agreeable Parenting Plan, the judge or family court commissioner will refer the parents to family court counseling. Should both parties fail to mediate and establish a Parenting Plan, a judge will decide the Child Custody and Physical Placement pursuant to the child’s best interests.

Child Support

Child support payments, in Wisconsin, are based on the income of the paying parent. Initially, Wisconsin employs the percentage standard. The percentage standard for calculating child support is:

  • 17% for 1 child;

  • 25% for 2 children;

  • 29% for 3 children;

  • 31% for 4 children; and

  • 34% for 5 or more children.

These numbers are subject to deviations based on numerous factors. Due to many different circumstances, child support may be calculated using other acceptable standards.

Child support tends to cause tension between parties. By hiring an attorney, you will have someone who understands the law and standard deviations to insure that a court order is in place that provides the optimal amount of child support owed to your child.

Schedule a free consultation to discuss the amount of child support owed to your child.

Family Mediation

The main goal of mediation is to establish an agreement that both sides agree to mutually abide by. Wisconsin mandates that in family court, cases involving a minor child will include court-ordered mediation when parties cannot come to an agreement. Court-ordered mediation is implemented when parties do not agree to custody, placement, and/or visitation.

Using court-ordered mediation allows for parents to meet with a mediator to discuss the underlying needs, interests, and issues of both parties. Hearing the different issues of the parties, the mediator has a chance to find common ground.

Mediation is an opportunity for both parties to meet with a skilled mediator and discuss the different plans the parents are requesting. Then, the mediator finds areas in both parties’ plans that are mutually agreeable. Thus, establishing a written agreement delineating an agreed upon placement and custody schedule. Ultimately, the main goal of the written schedule is to prioritize the best interests of the child.

If mediation does not work and no agreement is reached, the court will assign a guardian ad litem (GAL). The GAL focuses on what the best interests of the child are. The GAL will investigate the child’s life and interview the parents and child. Once the investigation is over, the GAL will provide the court with the GAL’s recommended custody and physical placement schedule.

Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance is an amount one spouse pays to the other after a divorce. The primary reason for spousal maintenance is ensuring that both parties can maintain their marital standard of living after a divorce. The two forms of spousal maintainence are limited term or indefinite spousal maintenance.

  • Limited-term spousal maintanence is implemented, when one spouse has the potential ability to be self-supporting after the divorce. However, the spouse needs financial support and time to seek education or cultivate the skillset required for financial independence.

  • Indefinite spousal maintanence is potentially implemented in long-term marriages. This form of maintanence is necessary if one spouse was abscent from the job market for years or the spouse’s age makes returning to the job market difficult or impossible.

The court will analyze specific factors to determine the type, duration, and amount of maintenance.

If you have more questions and want to discuss your situation, contact Attorney Heckel via email or phone to SCHEDULE YOUR FREE CONSULTATION.

Relocation

Pursuant to Wisconsin Statute 767.481, the party requesting relocation has 100 miles before specific procedural guidelines must be followed.

Families who already live 100 miles or more apart and intend on relocating, do not have to file a motion to move or relocate. The moving parent must provide the non-moving parent notice of their intent to relocate at least 60 days before the relocatio takes place. The notice must be in writing, include the date the parent intends to move, and the new address.

Under Wis. Stat. § 767.481, parents that live within 100 miles of each other must adhere to procedural guidelines and deadlines, when seeking relocation. As relocation is a material change, reconsideration of what is in the best interest of the child must take place.

Wisconsin law requires that a motion seeking the court’s permission to relocate, should the parent plan to relocate and reside with the child 100 miles or more from the non-moving parent.

Subject to Wis. Stat. § 787.481(1)(a), if the court grants periods of physical placement with a child to both parents and one parent intends to relocate and reside with the child 100 miles or more from the other parent, then the parent who intends to relocate and reside with the child shall file a motion with the court seeking permission to relocate.

Wis. Stat. § 787.481 requires that the motion include all of the following:

  1. A relocation plan including:

    • The date of the proposed relocation;

    • The municipality and state of the proposed new residence;

    • The reason for the relocation;

    • If applicable, a proposed new placement schedule, including placement during the school year, summers, and holidays; and

    • The proposed responsibility and allocation of costs for each parent for trasportation of the child between the parties under any proposed new placement schedule.

  2. If applicable, a request for a change in legal custody.

  3. Notice to the other parent that, if he or she objects to the relocation, he or she must file and serve, no later than 5 days before the initial hearing, an objection to the relocation and any alternate proposal, including a modification of physical placement or legal custody.

  4. An attached “Objection to Relocation” form, furnished by the court, for use by the other parent if he or she objects to the relocation.

The moving party must serve a written copy of the motion, by mail, to the non-moving party at least 5 days before the initial hearing.

After filing the motion, the court shall schedule an initial hearing within 30 days. The court must provide both parties of the date of the initial hearing.

If the non-moving party objects to the move, the Objection to Relocation form must be completed. The Objection to Relocation form must include the basis for the objection, proposals for a new placement schedule and allocation of the transportation provisions and costs. The objecting party must then serve and file this form with the court at least 5 business days before the initial hearing. Pending the initial hearing, the moving party may not relocate the child.

Once the objection is filed, the objecting party appears at the initial hearing, and the objecting party objects to the relocation on record, the court must:

  • Set a further hearing within 60 days;

  • Refer the parties to mediation; and

  • Appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL).

In deciding the relocation, the court employs multiple factors. If you have any questions regarding the procedural relocation process, please contact Attorney Heckel to SCHEDULE YOUR FREE CONSULTATION.

Paternity

There are 3 ways to establish paternity in Wisconsin:

  1. The Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment;

  2. Court Ruling; or

  3. Acknowledgment of Marital Child.

The following individuals may bring action or file motion to request paternity establishment:

  • The child;

  • The child’s natural mother;

  • A male alleged or alleging himself to be the father of the child;

  • The individual with legal and/or physical custody;

  • A guardian ad litem (GAL);

  • The State of Wisconsin; and

  • A grandparent, if the parent is dependent on the grandparent.

Pursuant to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, establishing paternity is beneficial to the child and the father.

The child benefits by having potential access to:

  • Child support;

  • Health insurance;

  • Inheritance rights;

  • Social Security benefits if the father dies or becomes disabled; and

  • Access to the father’s family’s health history by the child’s doctor.

When legal fatherhood is established, the father has rights such as:

  • The father’s parental rights have to be considered before his child can be placed for adoption;

  • The father has the right to ask the court for custody and physical placement; and

  • The father has the right to submit a parenting plan to the courts.

If you are considering paternity establishment to hold a parent accountable or to get access to your child, please feel free to contact Attorney Heckel to SCHEDULE YOUR FREE CONSULTATION.

Termination of Parental Rights

Under Wisconsin Statute 48.40(2), termination of parental rights means that, pursuant to a court order, all rights, powers, privileges, immunities, duties, and obligations existing between parent and child are permanently severed.

Wisconsin has 2 forms of termination of parental rights, voluntary and involuntary termination of parental rights.

  • Voluntary Termination of Parental Rights

  • Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights

Temporary Restraining Orders

Wisconsin has 4 different types of restraining orders, each with different rules regarding who can file and what type of conduct must be alleged:

  1. Domestic abuse.

  2. Harassment.

  3. Child Abuse.

  4. Individual at risk.

Grandparent Rights

Maintaining a relationship with your grandchildren is pivotal to grandparents. Wisconsin allocates for third party visitation, which includes grandparent visitation, during certain circumstances. The three circumstances include;

  • during a divorce proceeding;

  • if one or both of the child’s parents is deceased; or

  • if the child’s parents never marry each other.

Contact me for a free consultation to learn how to get visitation rights to your grandchild.