Badger Lawyer's Family Divorce Help

Legally, divorce is defined as the dissolution of the marriage relationship. Depending on whether the couple has children or is childless, has substantial assets or few, or are amicable or bitter, a divorce can be a relatively easy process or a tooth and nail fight. You can struggle through doing it yourself, or you can hire an attorney.

Check these topics for more information:

What Do I Have To Prove To Get A Divorce?
If I Got Married Somewhere Else, Can I Get Divorced Here?
How Long Does It Take To Get A Divorce?
Do We Have To Fight About Everything?
When Is My Divorce Final? When Can I Remarry?
What About My Maiden Name?

What Do I Have To Prove To Get A Divorce?

Wisconsin is a “no fault” state. That means you don’t have to prove your spouse did anything wrong in order to be allowed to get divorced. You can get divorced if you want to.

For a court to grant a divorce, it has to make a finding that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” There is an easy way and a hard way for the court to make this finding.

The easy way is for the parties to both tell the judge that’s what they want, or for the couple to live apart continuously for at least 12 months leading up to the filing. If either of these happens, the court has to find the marriage is broken.

The hard way happens when one party refuses to agree that the marriage is broken and the “live apart” requirement is not met. The court then must hold a hearing in which it considers “all relevant factors, including the circumstances that gave rise to filing the petition and the prospect of reconciliation.” If the court then finds the marriage is irretrievably broken, it will issue that order. If the court finds that there is a reasonable prospect of reconciliation, it will set another hearing later and suggest (or order) the parties seek counseling.

On another note, if you want to try to reconcile, you may ask the court to suspend divorce proceedings temporarily. If you do, you can resume living as husband and wife without any impact on the court’s later determination of irretrievable breakdown. (You can live together without impacting the 12 month rule.)

If I Got Married Somewhere Else, Can I Get Divorced Here?

Yes, as long as you meet Wisconsin’s residency requirements. To file for divorce in Wisconsin, at least one of you (you or your spouse) must have lived in the county where you want to file for divorce for at least 30 days, and one of you must have lived in the state for at least 6 months.

How Long Does It Take To Get A Divorce?

Once you serve the papers on the other party, the law does not permit the action to go to a final hearing for at least 120 days. That is just the minimum though. Divorces often – usually – take longer to finalize. As a rule of thumb, count on at least a year of your life being spent dealing with a divorce.

Do We Have To Fight About Everything?

No. You and your spouse may enter into stipulations about division of property, maintenance payments, child support, periodic family support payments, or for legal custody and physical placement of children. The court must approve any stipulation, and child support stipulations must be consistent with state requirements.

When Is My Divorce Final? When Can I Remarry?

A judgment of divorce is final when it is granted. However, the law does not permit a person to remarry until 6 months after the judgment is finalized. The court is authorized to vacate (reverse) or modify the final judgment in those 6 months. So, if you reconcile shortly after the divorce, you and your spouse can petition the court to undo the judgment. It’s like it never happened.

What About My Maiden Name?

If either party changed their name when they married, the court will allow them to change it back upon request at the time the divorce is granted.