Wisconsin Divorce Law

Residency Requirements:

In order to file your Petition for Divorce in Wisconsin, you must make sure the Circuit Court has jurisdiction over your case. The most common way spouses are eligible to use a specific court system is by meeting the residency requirements. Meeting the Wisconsin residency requirements is typically only a concern for a spouse who has recently moved or is planning to move in the near future. The filing requirements are as follows:

Grounds for Divorce:

The Petition for Divorce is the initial document filed with the Wisconsin court. It is in this document that the filing spouse will request the court to terminate the marriage under certain specified grounds.

• Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.

Property Distribution in Wisconsin:

Wisconsin courts favor an equal division of marital property. However, a court may deviate from an equal distribution of assets after considering several factors, including:

• The length of the marriage.
• The property each spouse brought into the marriage.
• Whether either spouse has substantial assets not subject to division by the court (e.g., substantial separate property, such as a large inheritance).
• The spouses’ ages and physical and emotional health.
• Each spouse’s contributions to the marriage, giving appropriate economic value to any homemaking and child care services either spouse provided during the marriage.
• Each spouse’s earning capacity (the ability to earn income based on education, job history and skills, and local employment opportunities).

Spousal Support in Wisconsin:

In Wisconsin the support payments (if any) can certainly influence how the marital property distribution is awarded, which is why it can become a very intricate part of the final outcome of any divorce. Keeping this in mind, if you and your spouse are unable to reach and agreement on this issue, the Circuit Court will order support from one spouse to the other on a case-by-case basis as follows:

The court may grant an order requiring one spouse to pay maintenance to the other party for a temporary or indefinite period of time after considering the following factors:

• The duration of the marriage.
•  The age and health of the parties.
• The property award (d) The educational level of each party.
• The earning capacity and the custodial arrangement if there are children.
• The feasibility that the party seeking maintenance can become self-supporting at a standard of living reasonably comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage, and, if so, the length of time necessary to achieve this goal.
• The tax ramifications of the support order.
• Any mutual agreements made by the parties.
• The contribution by one party to the education, training or increased earning power of the other.
• Such other factors as the court may in each individual case determine to be relevant.

Child Custody in Wisconsin:

In Wisconsin, the court will consider the following factors when making a custody decision that is best for the child(ren) involved:

• The wishes of the child’s parent or parents, as shown by any stipulation between the parties, any proposed parenting plan or any legal custody or physical placement proposal submitted to the court at trial.
• The wishes of the child, which may be communicated by the child or through the child’s guardian ad litem or other appropriate professional.
• The interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parent or parents, siblings, and any other person who may significantly affect the child’s best interest.
• The amount and quality of time that each parent has spent with the child in the past, any necessary changes to the parents’ custodial roles and any reasonable life-style changes that a parent proposes to make to be able to spend time with the child in the future.
• The child’s adjustment to the home, school, religion and community.
• The age of the child and the child’s developmental and educational needs at different ages.
• Whether the mental or physical health of a party, minor child or other person living in a proposed custodial household negatively affects the child’s intellectual, physical, or emotional well-being.
• The need for regularly occurring and meaningful periods of physical placement to provide predictability and stability for the child.
• The availability of public or private child care services.
• The cooperation and communication between the parties and whether either party unreasonably refuses to cooperate or communicate with the other party.
• Whether each party can support the other party’s relationship with the child, including encouraging and facilitating frequent and continuing contact with the child, or whether one party is likely to unreasonably interfere with the child’s continuing relationship with the other party.
• Whether there is evidence that a party engaged in abuse.
• Whether there is evidence of inter-spousal battery.
• Whether either party has or had a significant problem with alcohol or drug abuse.
• The reports of appropriate professionals if admitted into evidence.
• Such other factors as the court may in each individual case determine to be relevant.

Child Support in Wisconsin:

Either or both parents may be ordered to pay child support and health care expenses. The factors to be considered are:

• The financial resources of the child.
• The standard of living the child would have enjoyed if the marriage had not been dissolved.
• The physical and emotional conditions and educational needs of the child.
• The financial resources, earning capacity, needs, and obligations of the parents.
• The age and health of the child, including the need for health insurance.
• The desirability of the parent having custody remaining in the home as a full-time parent.
•  The cost of daycare to the parent having custody if that parent works outside the home or the value of the childcare services performed by that parent; (8) the tax consequences to each parent.
• The award of substantial periods of physical placement to both parents [joint custody].
• Any extraordinary travel expenses incurred in exercising the right to periods of physical placement.
• The best interests of the child.
• Any other relevant factors.

There are official guidelines and percentage standards for child support are available from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services. The court may require that child support payments be guaranteed by an assignment of income, that the payments be made through the clerk of the court, or that health insurance be provided for the children. The court may also order a parent to seek employment. The court may order spousal maintenance and child support payments be combined into a “family support” payment.

Percent of Income Model: Wisconsin utilizes the percentage of income formula which determines the amount of child support as a percentage of the income of the parent obligated to pay the child support. This percentage is determined by factoring the number of children requiring support. This is the most basic or primitive method for calculating support. Many people believe that it does not take into consideration many important details, which makes this model of support calculation the least exact.

Disclaimer: The divorce law information provided is for informational purposes only not for legal advice purposes. This information is general in nature. Each jurisdiction has specific code and court procedures. A local divorce attorney is your best source for how divorce is treated in your jurisdiction. Before making any legal decisions we encourage you to consult with a local attorney…do not make decisions based on general state divorce law.