wis-law.com is your doorway to information pages on legal subjects including Wisconsin Divorce Law, Wisconsin Real Estate Law, Wisconsin Personal Injury Law, Bankruptcy Law, Social Security Law, Wills and Probate and Landlord/Tenant Law in Wisconsin, as well as issues regarding motor vehicles, bankruptcy and insurance. wis-law.com is also a central access point to other resources available on the web with respect to Wisconsin Law and Government.

COMMENCING A DIVORCE

by Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

The first thing that needs to be done before any divorce action is started, is one of the parties to the marriage must decide that he or she believes that the marriage cannot survive. While many spouses reconcile during the divorce process, starting a divorce as an attention getting or negotiating ploy, is a very poor idea. It not only is very costly to start an action, especially if an attorney is retained, divorce actions tend to drive most couples further apart. Having a lawyer in the middle of personal communications between spouses, is virtually assured to create hard feelings. Don't start a divorce action unless you either feel you need the court's protection, or you are reasonably sure that your marriage can or should not survive.

Attorney? If you have made such determination, then you must make a decision whether to hire an attorney. Generally, only the simplest of divorces can be done without an attorney.

Residency Limits. The next thing that needs to be looked at is the residency issue. A Wisconsin court can only grant a divorce to parties when one of the parties has been a resident of Wisconsin for six months. A case cannot be started in a given county until one of the parties has resided in such county for at least 30 days.

Filing Papers. In order to start an action, a summons and a petition must be filed with the clerk of courts in the particular county and a filing fee must be paid. Then, such summons and petition must be personally served, usually by a sherriff, on the other spouse. In most cases, at the same time as the divorce petition is filed, there will also be filed papers to schedule a temporary hearing, as soon as possible. In many counties, this will occur within a couple of weeks.

How Long Does is Take? At least four months is required to get a divorce (except in very limited circumstances.) Usually, in cases without a custody fight over the children, a divorce can get resolved in six to nine months. If custody is involved, the case may take twice as long.

Who is? The person who files the action (the petition) is called the petitioner. The person who the action is served upon, is called the respondent.

DIVORCE OVERVIEW THE TEMPORARY HEARING ABUSE AND RESTRAINING ORDERS CUSTODY CHILD SUPPORT MAINTENANCE PROPERTY SETTLEMENT

The materials on this World Wide Web site are provided purely for informational purposes and are not legal advice. These materials are intended, but not promised or guaranteed, to be correct, complete, and current. This web site is not intended to be a source of advertising, solicitation or legal advice. Therefore, the reader should not consider this information an invitation for an attorney-client relationship. Readers should not act or rely upon any information contained in this World Wide Web site and should always seek the advice of competent counsel.

The owner of this web site is a law firm, the Johnson Law Office which organized the Brain Injury Law Group. The Johnson Law Office is licensed to practice in the States of Wisconsin , Illinois and Michigan. The Brain Injury Law Group does not wish to represent anyone desiring representation based upon their viewing any portion of this World Wide Web site that fails to comply with all legal and ethical rules in such individuals state. While not intended to do so, but in a good faith effort to comply with all rules and regulation which may be applicable to it, the Brain Injury Law Group hereby informs readers that this site may be construed as advertising and promotional materials. The Brain Injury Law Group makes no representation that it can obtain the same results as reported in this web site in other legal matters.