WISCONSIN DIVORCE
One of the spouses must a be a resident of the state of Wisconsin for at least 6 months and a resident of the county in which they file for at least 30 days immediately prior to filing for the divorce.
If you have minor children living with your spouse in another state for over six months then you should consider filing in that state as that court has jurisdiction over the children. You spouse can waive that jurisdiction in writing.
County of Filing:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a Wisconsin address in the county of filing. Wisconsin civilian residents living overseas may file in Wisconsin if they have maintained their residency in Wisconsin.
MILITARY:
Active duty members of the military (or their spouses) may file in Wisconsin if they have been stationed in Wisconsin for six months or were residents of Wisconsin when they entered active duty. Smart Divorce.com staff includes former active duty officers and enlisted personnel and are completely knowledgeable on the special military requirements and the “Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act”. Our staff prides themselves on the service they provide our military members.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: NO-FAULT or FAULT ?
Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
The parties may mutully consent to the marriage being irretrievably broken, or if the parties must have lived separate and apart for at least 1 year without cohabitation.
If the parties have not voluntarily lived apart for at least 1 year immediately prior to commencement of the action and if only one party has stated under oath or affirmation that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court shall consider all relevant factors, including the circumstances that gave rise to filing the petition and the prospect of reconciliation.
WAITING PERIOD:
A hearing will not be scheduled by the clerk until the expiration of 120 days after service of the summons and petition upon the respondent or the expiration of 120 days after the filing of the joint petition.PROPERTY OF THE MARRIAGE:
In a divorce, the property (land, house, buildings, and items of personal property) owned (and debts owed) by the couple is divided between the parties. In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is maintained. You do not need to list items already divided or not an important issue in the divorce. You may revise the MSA after receipt of the documents from us by sending an email with your changes. There is never a charge for revisions at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT:
Spousal Support is either agreed upon by the parties or determined by the judge in a contested hearing. We cannot give legal advice regarding spousal support but will include your request in the documents.
The questionnaire you fill out will outline the custody, visitation and support for the children. We will prepare the documents accordingly, and we will also prepare a Marital Separation Agreement (at no additional cost) which outlines in specific detail all the provisions regarding the children. Both parties must attend the parenting class or get a waiver. A list of the places in Wisconsin to attend may be obtained from the court.
CHILD SUPPORT:
The child support will either be an amount you and your spouse agree upon, or it will be determined for you by the court, according to the Wisconsin Child Support Guidelines. If you wish the court to calculate the amount then you will need to file the standardized Child Support Guidelines form and Child Support Income Statement/Affidavit which we provide. See “Wisconsin Child Support Calculator” on any search engine such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
CUSTODY:
You may have Joint Legal Custody or Sole Legal Custody. This determines how the decisions are made regarding the raising of the child(ren).
Physical custody may be with one residential parent or “SPLIT CUSTODY” where the child(ren) live a substantial time with each parent.
VISITATION:
This can be any program agreed upon by the parties and may change from time to time. If the parties cannot agree then the state guidelines are in effect. State guidelines are outlined in the MSA provided with your documents. You do not need to list your present visitation agreement as it will change from time to time but you may if you wish. “No Visitation” or “Restricted Visitation” may be requested by supplying the reason on the questionnaire.
COURT ADDRESSES:
You must file the divorce documents in the Circuit Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
Douglas County Circuit Court: 1313 Belnap St., Superior, WI 54880-2769 Phone: (715) 395-1469
Eau Claire County Circuit Court: 721 Oxford Ave., Eau Claire, WI 54703-5496 Phone: (715) 839-4816
La Crosse County Circuit Court: 333 Vine St., La Crosse, WI 54601-3296 Phone: (608) 785-9590
Brown County Circuit Court: 100 S Jefferson St., Green Bay, WI 54305-3600 Phone: (920) 448-4155
Outagamie County Circuit Court: 320 S Walnut St., Appleton, WI 54911-5991 Phone: (920) 832-5131
Winnebago County Circuit Court: 415 Jackson Dr., Oshkosh, WI 54903-2808 Phone: (920) 236-4848
Dane County Circuit Court: City County Building, 215 S Hamilton St., Madison, WI 53703 Phone: (608) 266-4679
Milwaukee County Circuit Court: 901 N 9th St., Milwaukee, WI 53233 Phone: (414) 278-5362
Waukesha County Circuit Court: 515 W Moreland Blvd., Waukesha, WI 53188-2428 Phone: (262) 896-8525
Rock County Circuit Court: 51 S Main St., Janesville, WI 53545-3978 Phone: (608) 743-2200
Adams County Circuit Court: 402 Main St., Friendship, WI 53934-0220 Phone: (608) 339-4208
Columbia County Circuit Court: 400 Dewitt St., Portage, WI 53901-0587 Phone: (608) 742-9642
Juneau County Circuit Court: 220 E State St., Mauston, WI 53948-0246 Phone: (608) 847-9356
Sauk County Circuit Court: 515 Oak St., Baraboo, WI 53913-0449 Phone: (608) 355-3287
Monroe County Circuit Court: 112 S Court St., Sparta, WI 54656 Phone: (608) 269-8745
Sawyer County Circuit Court: 10610 Main, Hayward, WI 54843 Phone: (715) 634-4887
Dunn County Circuit Court: 615 Stokke Prkwy Ste 1500, Menomonie, WI 54751 Phone: (715) 232-2611
Polk County Circuit Court: 1001 West Main St., Balsam Lake, WI 54810-9071 Phone: (715) 485-9299
Bayfield County Circuit Court: 117 E 5th St., Washburn, WI 54891-9464 Phone: (715) 373-6108
FILING FEES:
The court filing fees for a divorce in Wisconsin is approximately $175 plus $10 with children.
If your spouse won't sign and must be served, then the sheriff may charge a fee of around $25 to serve your spouse.
If you don't know the whereabouts of your spouse, then your spouse will need to be served by publication. The average publication fee is approximately $75.
You may call the Clerk of the Court in your county to determine the exact fees in your county.
METHODS OF SERVICE:
1. The most common way is to have your spouse sign the documents AFTER you have filed the complaint with the court. You can hand deliver the documents , mail them or have a third party deliver them to your spouse. This method is available even though your spouse is incarcerated.
2. If your spouse will not sign or you not not sure if your spouse will sign then you can get service by having the sheriff in spouse’s county serve a copy of the filed documents along with other documents requiring spouse’s signature. You can contact the sheriff in any state to serve your spouse. You can also get service by Certified Mail, (Return Receipt Requested) if your spouse lives out of state. If your spouse is incarcerated then you can get service by having the prison/jail officials serve your spouse.
3. Service by publication. If you cannot find your spouse after a diligent search then you can publish. The publication fee for the newspaper is approximately $65 but varies for different counties. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
Go to our questionnaire and get started today.
