We recognize that a divorce is one of the most difficult experiences a person goes through in his or her lifetime.  The breakup of a marriage, regardless of how unpleasant it may have been, is, in many respects, like the death of a family member.  You will experience denial, anger, sadness and, we hope, in the end, acceptance of a necessary experience in your life, from which you will move on.  In this confusing time, you will have questions about what to expect in your case, and you should feel free to call us to have them answered.

A divorce is a process, not an event.  An action is commenced by filing a Summons and Petition for Divorce and serving the other party.  By law, you must wait 120 days, or four months, from the time the papers have been served, so your case must "wait out" the time period.  This may mean that nothing much will happen for several months unless there is a first, or initial, hearing.

The purpose of a first hearing is to obtain a court order setting forth the ground rules which will govern during the pendency of the action.  These are temporary orders, which may be modified, and which are not necessarily the same orders the court will enter upon the conclusion of your case.  For example, the court may enter a temporary support order, award possession of certain items of personal property to one of the parties, may make a provision regarding the payment of certain debts, and may make provisions for custody and placement of the children.  Hopefully, the parties will be able to agree upon a temporary status quo and reach a stipulation, which is a written agreement of the parties approved by the court.  In the event an agreement cannot be reached, then a Family Court Commissioner, or Judge, will make the necessary decisions.

If there are custody or placement issues, at the outset of the case, the parties will be referred for mediation, which is court ordered in Wisconsin.  A mediator is a professional skilled in dispute resolution who will assist the parties in reaching an agreement regarding custody and placement of the children, if it is possible to do so.  Mediation is a confidential, cooperative process, which is successful in upwards of 95% of the cases in resolving placement disputes.  Even if the parties are unable to reach an agreement on where the children live, at any given period of time, it is often helpful to work out holiday and vacation schedules in mediation.

In the event mediation is unsuccessful in resolving important issues regarding the children, such as where they will live, then the court will appoint a guardian ad litem, or attorney, to represent the best interests of the children.  He or she will interview both parties with respect to their positions on custody and placement, and may also interview third parties, such as teachers and babysitters.  The guardian ad litem will make a recommendation to the court as to what placement and custody arrangements are in the children's best interests.  Oftentimes the guardian ad litem will share his or her preliminary recommendations with the parties to enable them to settle the dispute prior to trial.  In certain counties, such as Racine, Washington and Waukesha, a social worker is also appointed by the court to make a recommendation.  The social worker does the same type of investigation that the guardian ad litem does, and also makes a recommendation to the parties and the court regarding what placement and custody arrangements are in the children's best interests.  Often, the investigations of the social worker and guardian ad litem take 60 days.  A psychological evaluation of the parties and children may be recommended if there are mental health concerns, or a history of substance abuse problems.  In this event, a psychologist will also make a recommendation as to custody and placement of the children.  Although these recommendations are all important, the ultimate decision rests with the Judge.

During the waiting period, the attorneys will be doing what is known as "discovery," where they will secure the necessary information to put values on various assets and debts.  The value used, for divorce purposes, is termed "fair market value," which is what a willing buyer, in an arms length transaction, would pay for an asset.  For example, the family homestead may be appraised in order to determine its fair market value (what it would likely sell for).  Pension plans and profit sharing plans will be valued, and such things as the cash value to life insurance policies and debts will be verified.  Property is to be valued as of the date of the divorce, so very often updating needs to be done close to the conclusion of the case.  The parties are each required to complete a Financial Disclosure Statement, which is very helpful in alerting us to what assets need to be valued or verified.

At the beginning of the action, you will be asked to complete a Financial Disclosure Statement, and will be given instructions for doing so.  It is very important that you endeavor to provide complete information so that assets will not be overlooked and to enable us to have all of the relevant information to obtain the best result possible for you.  You may also be asked to sign "authorizations" which enable us, or the opposing attorney, to directly verify with such entities as pension plans, the current account balances.

Depending upon the jurisdiction in which you reside, the court will set either a status date or a pretrial date in order for the attorneys (and in some cases parties) to meet with the judge to profile your case.  Generally, this status/pretrial conference occurs near the 120th day from the commencement of the action.  If the parties are able to resolve all of the issues in their case, they may be divorced at the status/pretrial conference.  In the event issues remain, those issues are delineated before the judge so that he or she may determine how long the case will take to be tried.  Oftentimes, pretrial conferences are helpful in obtaining the judge's preliminary thoughts on the issues, to further assist the parties in settling their disputes.  At the pretrial conference, the judge will give the parties a trial date so that you will know when the case is scheduled to be concluded.  Depending upon the county in which you reside, this date can be anywhere from 30 days to eight months or longer after the pretrial.  Oftentimes, at the pretrial, the court may appoint "experts," such as appraisers or business valuators, to provide an opinion as to the value of certain assets at trial.

The good news is that most cases (upwards of 95%) are resolved through the negotiation process.  Wisdom has dictated that settlements are preferable to litigating a case before the judge.  Settlements are generally not reached, however, unless there is compromise on the part of each party.  Negotiation is, of course, a give and take process, and we will meet with you to fully discuss the prospect of settling your case.  It is your case, and while we will provide our best legal advice, any settlement is your decision.

Sometimes cases simply cannot be settled, for a variety of reasons.  In this event, we will present your case to the judge for decision.  You will testify, as will your spouse, and we may also call additional experts to testify if there are valuation issues, or if an accountant's testimony would be helpful to the court on support issues.  If custody and placement issues remain unresolved, we may call several witnesses, such as grandparents, teachers and babysitters, to provide additional helpful information to the court, such as how you relate and interact with your children.  Unfortunately, litigation can be expensive, and although we will do everything possible to hold down the cost, you should consider this factor in reviewing your settlement options.

It is important that we work with you in the preparation and presentation of your case.  Our objective is always to obtain the best possible result for you, balanced against the cost to obtain that result.  When we ask you to supply us with information, such as verification of an account balance, or we ask you to complete and return your Financial Disclosure Statement, it is very helpful to us if you do this promptly.

It is our policy to provide you with copies of everything we send out on your case, and everything we receive regarding your case.  It may be helpful for you to keep this correspondence in a separate folder, in reverse chronological order, so that it can easily be referred to.  It may also be helpful, if you have questions concerning your case, to make a list of those questions prior to calling us.  That way we can make sure we cover all items of concern to you.  If you feel you would prefer to meet with the attorney to go over a particular problem, please alert us to that.  We will always contact you if we receive information concerning your case.  You will not need to check with us regarding whether we heard back on something.

In this cost efficient legal market, we may rely upon you to do many things in the case which will result in cost savings.  For example, if you can supply certain needed documents, such as the legal description to your residence, we will ask you to provide it.  Similarly, dependent upon your comfort level, we may ask you to do some accounting, such as adding up the past due amounts of support, known as "arrearages."  The more you desire to, and can do to be of assistance in your case, the more you will hold down your legal fees.

Divorce issues are not "black and white."  Oftentimes, clients want to "know" how a judge will decide a certain issue, such as maintenance.  While our experience enables us to give you a ballpark idea of what a judge will rule, because this is a discretionary determination, we are unable to provide "black and white" answers.  There are always two sides to every issue, and it can be difficult to predict how persuaded a judge will be by either side.  We know that this can be frustrating, and we appreciate that.  The one thing you can expect in the divorce process is "the unexpected."  Court calendars are often congested, and cases are frequently "stacked," meaning that a number of cases are assigned to the same time period your case is.  This can result in your case being adjourned to another day, and it can result in a wait at the courthouse.  In some counties, adjournments are more frequent than in other counties, and even though we will endeavor to let you know that your case will be heard on the date assigned, circumstances beyond our control may preclude that from occurring.  If you are always "prepared" for a delay or postponement, then you will not be thrown off guard if that occurs.

If your case has been negotiated to resolution, it will be reduced to a written document known as a Final Marital Settlement Agreement.  This document will contain all of the terms and conditions of your agreement in addition to reciting various legal provisions required by law.  You will be asked to sign this document.  If you have a Final Marital Settlement Agreement, and the 120 days have expired, you will proceed to court to do what is termed a "default" (or uncontested or "agreed upon") divorce.  In this event, the divorce hearing, itself, takes approximately 10 minutes.  The petitioning party will be asked to verify those factual matters contained in the divorce petition, such as the residency requirement, the date of the marriage, and whether or not he or she believes the marriage is irretrievably broken.  The wife, in any divorce action, will be asked whether or not she is pregnant.  The court wants to ensure that there are no "children on the way" which should be provided for in the parties' Judgment of Divorce.  After the petitioning party takes the stand, the responding party will testify.  Essentially, the responding party will be asked if he or she heard the testimony of the petitioning party and whether or not he or she agrees with it.  Assuming it is all factually accurate, the responding party will be asked if he or she believes the marriage is irretrievably broken.  Both parties will be asked if they have filed the requisite Financial Disclosure Statements and whether they fully and fairly disclosed all income, assets and liabilities.  If a Final Marital Settlement Agreement has been reached, each of the parties will be asked whether they believe that Agreement is fair and reasonable under all of the circumstances of the case.  If a wife desires the restoration of her maiden name, this will be requested.  Most of the "answers" a testifying party gives are "yes" or "no".  The party testifying must give audible responses, and may not just shake a head.

It is oftentimes very stressful to be on the witness stand, and parties may break down emotionally.  Rest assured, this is a common occurrence, and, if it happens to you, you should not be embarrassed.  You may bring a friend or relative to court with you if this would assist in providing emotional support.  The courtrooms are considered public places, and there may be other people sitting in the courtroom waiting for their cases to be called.

Once the parties have testified, the judge will review the Final Marital Settlement Agreement and will approve it, granting the parties a Judgment of Divorce effective immediately.  The judge will then advise each of the parties that he or she is not free to remarry for the next six months.

If we are unable to reach an agreement on some, or all, of the issues, then the case will be presented to the judge in what is known as a "trial."  Witnesses will be called, and placed under oath (which means that they will swear they "will tell the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth").  Frequently, the only "testimony" needed is that of the two parties.  Each party will provide the necessary information to enable the judge to make a decision, and will inform the judge what he/she desires that the judge decide on a particular issue.  For example, if the parties are unable to reach an agreement on the award of a certain item of personal property (an antique dining room set), then each of the parties will testify why he/she wants the particular item and why the judge should award it to him/her.  Perhaps one of the parties refinished the dining room set, or the dining room set had been in one of the party's families for a long time, and even though it had been gifted to the couple jointly, the sense of "family tradition" should dictate the award of the dining room set to the party whose family had maintained it.

Sometimes there may be issues regarding gifted or inherited property which, subject to certain rules, is exempt property from the marital estate.  Unfortunately, in many divorce cases, an issue arises as to whether something was truly "gifted" or not.

Once the trial of your case is concluded, the judge will either rule orally from the bench on the issues, or take the matter under advisement and issue a written decision, which you should receive within 30 days from your date of trial.  Sometimes, however, this takes longer.  You should be aware that our experience has been that, no matter how defined or limited the issues may be, a trial takes much longer than you may anticipate.  Each party is trying to convince the judge to see the issue his/her way, and brevity generally does not take place.  Depending upon the judge who presides over your trial, a trial can become an endurance contest.

Once your case has been resolved, hopefully by a written agreement between the parties, or by a decision of the judge, there will still be some "housekeeping matters" that need to be completed.  A Judgment of Divorce is prepared either incorporating the Final Marital Settlement Agreement, or the Judge's decision.  We may need to prepare Deeds for the transfer of property, and we may need to prepare Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) to divide up various retirement benefits.  We will want to be sure that medical insurance for both spouses is covered and, if you had been carried under your spouse's plan, we may need to ensure the conversion of your health insurance benefits.  Car titles may need to be transferred.  We will work with you to ensure that the divorce provisions are carried out.

Our experience has been that most of our clients are much happier once the divorce process has been completed.  While there are very few cases where a spouse is truly happy with the outcome of the case, whether it be by agreement or decision, most people endeavor to put the past behind them and move forward with the rest of their lives.  We do wish you the very best of luck in the future, and you should not hesitate to call us if the need arises.  Sometimes post-judgment modifications may be necessary, where you return to court.  For example, if spousal support is awarded for a period of four years, it may need to be reviewed at the conclusion of that period.  Please call us if we can be of further service to you.