What are the different types of physical placement?

In most cases each parent is awarded periods of physical placement of the children. The actual placement arrangement may take one of three basic forms:

• Primary placement—One parent has primary placement of the children. The other parent has periods of placement, which could take the form of every other weekend during the school year plus extra time in the summer. There is also usually an alternating of holidays. This is only an example and many other options can be applied.
• Shared placement—Under Wisconsin law, parents have a shared placement schedule if each parent has at least 25 percent or ninety-two days a year of physical placement with the minor children. The periods of physical placement are determined by calculating the number of overnights of each parent and dividing that number by 365. An example of a shared placement schedule is a 50/50 alternating week schedule.
• Split custody—Occasionally, and for a wide variety of reasons, children are split between the parents. With split custody, the placement schedules are usually set up to have the children together every weekend and for substantial times in the summer. There is a special split custody child-support rule that offsets and nets the child-support obligations of the parents.

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Wisconsin Divorce Questions and Answers

What is Collaborative Divorce?

Linda Vanden Heuvel answers the question, what is a collaborative divorce in the state of Wisconsin in this short video.

 

If my spouse dies during the divorce, what happens?

In Wisconsin, the divorce is dismissed.

 

Where can I find Wisconsin Divorce Forms?

Go to:  www.wicourts.gov/forms1/circuit.htm#family or check out the Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Clerk of Courts website:  http://www.waukeshacounty.gov

 

How does taxes effect my Divorce

The IRS provides a publication:  Divorced or Separated Individuals.  It’s IRS Publication 504, available at www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-829-3676

 

What are the grounds for divorce in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, the only necessary ground for divorce is that one party believes that the marriage is irretrievably broken.

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What is physical placement of a child?

Physical placement is the condition under which a party has the right to have a child physically placed with that party and has the right and responsibility to make, during that placement, routine daily decisions regarding the child’s care. Physical placement is generally defined as where the child is living on a day-to-day basis.

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What’s the difference between visitation and placement?

Visitation generally occurs when a third party spends time with a minor child. Third parties include grandparents, significant others, or stepparents. Placement is the term used for parents when spending time with their children.

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What factors does the court consider in awarding custody and physical placement?

The court considers all facts relevant to the best interest of the children. Some of the factors the court considers for child custody and placement are:

• The wishes of the children’s parent or parents as shown by an agreement between the parties, or a proposed parenting plan, or any other proposal submitted to the court at trial
• The wishes of the children, which may be communicated by the children or through the children’s guardian ad litem
• The interaction and interrelationship of the children with his or her parent, parents, or siblings
• The amount and quality of time that each parent has spent with the child in the past
• The child’s adjustment to the home, school, religion, and community
• 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, 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 of the child
• Whether any of the following has a criminal record and whether there is evidence that any of the following has engaged in abuse of the child or any other child or neglected the child or any other child:
  • A person with whom a parent of the child has a dating relationship
  • A person who resides, has resided, or will reside regularly or intermittently in a proposed custodial household
• Whether there is any evidence of inter-spousal or domestic abuse
• Whether either party has or had a significant problem with alcohol or drug abuse
• Such other factors as the court may, in each individual case, determine to be relevant

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How can I make sure I will be awarded primary placement of my children?

There are no guarantees that you will be awarded primary placement of your children in a divorce action, except in exceptional circumstances. The court weighs the factors addressed earlier in this chapter to make a determination relative to the allocation of placement. Although an attorney may give you his or her opinion relative to your likelihood of success in obtaining primary placement of your children, it is just an opinion. Any lawyer who guarantees a result in a custody and/ or placement case is a lawyer who should be avoided.

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If I am awarded shared physical placement, what are some examples of how the parenting might be shared?

In the event both parties have placement of ninety-two overnights or more, placement is considered shared. Although child placement is generally awarded based on overnights, equivalent care is also considered. An example of equivalent care would be a parent who works third shift, but cares for the children  each day.

In 50/50 shared physical placement arrangements, many parents follow a 2-2-5 schedule, or a variation thereof, where one parent has the children for two weekdays, the other parent has the children for the following two weekdays, and then the parties alternate weekends from Friday to Monday morning. Below is an example placement chart to demonstrate the 2-2-5 schedule.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1	Mother	Mother	Father	Father	Mother	Mother	Mother
Week 2	Mother	Mother	Father	Father	Father	Father	Father

Another example illustrates a 9-5 schedule, which is sometimes flip-flopped during the summer so the schedule becomes 5-9 to the opposite parent.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1	Father	Father	Mother	Father	Mother	Mother	Mother
Week 2	Father	Father	Mother	Father	Father	Father	Father

Parents can negotiate any type of schedule that works for them and the minor children. Sometimes the schedule is nothing more than an agreement to work together on a substantially 50/50 basis, leaving the actual dates and times flexible, based on the minor children’s schedule and extracurricular activities. If the children are old enough, some parents prefer to have a one-week-on, one-week-off parenting schedule. Each family presents a different set of facts and circumstances to be considered and weighed when determining the appropriate placement schedule.

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What is a parenting plan?

A parenting plan is a written document detailing what placement schedule each parent believes is in the best interest of the children. In a case where legal custody and/or physical placement is contested, a party seeking legal custody or periods of physical placement must file a parenting plan before any pretrial conference. A party required to file a parenting plan, who does not timely file a parenting plan, waives the  right to object to the other party’s parenting plan.

In Wisconsin, the court must set a placement schedule that allows the children to have “regularly occurring, meaningful periods of physical placement” with each parent that maximizes the amount of time the children will spend with each parent, taking into account geographic separation and accommodations for different households.

A parenting plan must provide the following information:

• What legal custody or physical placement the parent is seeking
• Where the parent currently lives and where the parent intends to live during the next two years
• Where the parent works and the hours of employment
• Who will provide any necessary child care when the parent cannot and who will pay for the child care
• Where the children will go to school
• What doctor or health care facility will provide medical care for the children
• How the children’s medical expenses will be paid
• What the children’s religious commitment will be, if any
• Who will make decisions about the children’s education, medical care, choice of child-care providers, and extracurricular activities
• How the holidays will be divided
• What the children’s summer schedule will be
• Whether and how the children will be able to contact the other parent when the children have physical placement with the parent providing the parenting plan
• How the parent proposes to resolve disagreements related to matters over which the court orders joint decision making
• What child support, family support, maintenance, or other income transfer there will be
• How the children will be transferred between the parties for the exercise of physical placement to ensure the safety of the children and the parties

A sample parenting plan form can be found in the appendix. The goal of the parenting plan is to resolve conflict without the need for extended litigation. It sets the parameters for each side’s custody and placement proposal.

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Do I have to file in the county where my spouse lives?

I just moved to a different county in Wisconsin. Do I have to file in the county where my spouse lives?

You may file your petition for divorce either in the county where you reside or in the county where your spouse resides, so long as you or your spouse have resided in that county for thirty days.

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My spouse says I have to move out now. Who decides who gets to live in the house while the divorce is pending?

If you and your spouse cannot reach an agreement regarding which of you will leave the residence during the divorce, the judge or family court commissioner will decide whether one of you should be granted exclusive possession of the home until the case is concluded. In some cases, judges have been known to refuse to order either party out of the house until the divorce is concluded or may order a nesting arrangement, where each party is designated exclusive use of the residence on specific days or weeks.

Abusive behavior by one party is one basis for seeking temporary possession of the home while the abusive spouse is ordered to vacate. If there are minor children, the party guilty of abuse will almost always be ordered to vacate the residence. Other factors the judge may consider in determining allocation of the residence on a temporary basis include the following:

• Whether one party owned the home prior to the marriage
• After provisions are made for payment of temporary support, who can afford to remain in the home or obtain other housing?
• Who is most likely to be awarded the home as part of the final divorce?
• What options are available to each party for other temporary housing, including other homes or family members who live in the area?
• Special needs that would make a move unduly burdensome to one party, such as a health condition
• Self-employment from home, which could not be readily moved, such as a child-care business

If staying in the home is important to you or if you or the child is a victim of abuse, talk to your attorney so that a strong case is presented on your behalf at the temporary hearing or temporary restraining order.

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