Frequently asked family law questions
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FAMILY LAW
Child Support
If I get divorced and my spouse is awarded placement of the child how much child support will I have to pay? Can I get a reduction for the time the children spend with me? Can support be set only on forty hours of work so that I can keep my overtime?
In Wisconsin the amount of child support a parent pays in usually nothing more than a math problem. Frequently clients cannot understand why their lawyer did not "fight herder" for a lower support payment. This is because the Wisconsin Statutes mandate that the parent without primary placements pays child support based on a percentage of the parent's gross income. For one child the percentage is seventeen percent; for two children it is twenty-five percent; and so on. The percentages are set by administrative rule. You may view the child support chart by clicking HERE. The percentage applies to all gross income (salary, wages, overtime, investment income, and so forth). Therefore, the court will generally not approve of an order that applies only to a fory hour work week and not to overtime income. Finally, there are some circumstances where the court may deviate from the percentage standard. These circumstances include: (1) Where the payor has placement of the children for more than twenty-five percent of the total time; (2) Where paying the full percentage will create a true financial hardship for the payor; and, (3) Where the children have exceptional needs that require more support.
I have temporary placement/visitation rights and my ex-spouse will not let me see the children. Do I still have to pay child support?
Yes. Where a parent is awarded temporary placement or visitation by the court the failure to permit this to happen is contempt of court. Likewise, the obligation to pay child support is a court order and the failure to do so is contempt of court. If the other parent is not allowing you to visit your children you should continue to pay support and file a contempt of court motion. At the hearing on such a motion the court will take steps to enforce its visitation order. These steps can including jailing the party who is in contempt of court.
Placement
I have primary placment of our children and I want to move out of state. Can I just do that or do I need to go to court?
If the other party has temporary placement rights ("visitation") you cannot move out of state or more than 150 miles away from the other parent you must provide written notice to the other party by certified mail at least sixty days before the move. You must also file a copy with the court. The other party then has fifteen days within which to file an objection with the court. If they do so, you cannot leave the state with the children until a court has ruled on the objection.
Do I need a divorce?
My spouse and I no longer live together. We do not really have any property and there are no issues with children. Do we need a divorce?
Couples should always try to find a way to stay married; however, if you and your spouse are no longer living together it is important that a divorce action be started. Even though you may not feel like you are married, for all legal purposes, you are. You may be held liable for debt that your estranged spouse incurs. If your spouse becomes disabled and can no longer work you may be liable for maintenance payments. If the marriage is, in fact, broken then you must take steps to break the legal ties as well.
My marriage is over. Should I get a divorce, a legal separation, or an annulment?
Chapter 767 of the Wisconsin Statutes defines what actions may be pursued to dissolve a marriage. The most common is a divorce. In a divorce action the parties need only prove that the marriage is irretrievably broken and the court will grant judgment. That is marriage is irretrievably broken is proved if one of the parties testies that it is. In a divorce the court will decide custody, placement, child support, maintenance, and property division
A legal separation is nearly identical to a divorce. This difference is that if the court grants a legal separation the parties may, within twelve months, move to vacate the judgment and if the motion is granted they become husband and wife again without having to remarry.
An annulment may only be granted if one of the parties proves that the marriage was defective because one of the parties was not legally competent to marry or there was fraud as to an essential element of the marriage. Annulments are very rarely granted.
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Milwaukee, WI 53203
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