Helping Wisconsin Parents Maintain Custody and/or Placement of Their Children.
Wisconsin Custody Attorneys Helping Families Stay Together
Parenting children following a divorce involves the most important choices a divorcing parent can make because they will impact their children’s short term happiness and long term well-being. Parents can hopefully make decisions together about when the children will spend time with each parent and how the parents will share their financial support.
Custody
Parents who share ”joint” custody of their children will work together to make major decisions for their children, such as where the child will go to school, what kind of medical care the child will receive, and in what religion the child will be raised, if any. If only one parent will make those decisions, they will have “sole” custody of the children.
There is a presumption that both parents have the right to make these decisions, but if it appears to the court that the parents will not be able to cooperate to do joint decision making, the court may consider certain factors and order all or some decisions be made solely by one parent.
Placement
Placement reflects where the child spends his or her days and nights. This can be primarily with one parent, or shared, either partially or equally. Many considerations go into this decision, such as:
- the preferences of the parents and child
- the child’s school schedule and after school needs
- the health of the parents and child, both physically and psychologically
- the history of child rearing, and the stated desires of each parent to be involved in child rearing after the divorce
- the effort each parent makes to spend time with the child
If either or both parents have been involved in domestic violence, the court may take those circumstances into play when the court decides both custody and placement.
If the parents agree that more flexibility is desirable, they may agree to a “reasonable times upon reasonable notice” placement schedule with one parent having “primary” placement. The other parent would see the children at times that work for the parents and the children after giving the parent with primary placement “reasonable” notice.
As children age, their school and extracurricular activities tend to increase. Parents will need to make decisions together on in what activities the children will engage, including sports and the arts. Considerations generally include the cost, and time away from school work, siblings and the parents.
The court also will make sure there are decisions regarding holidays and vacations.
When completing a court case, parents first try to come to an agreement themselves or through mediation. If they are unsuccessful, some counties provide
social workers to do a home study and make recommendations. If mediation failed and the parties cannot reach an agreement about custody and/or placement, the court must also appoint an attorney called a
guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of the child. Courts usually give great weight to the recommendations made by guardians ad litems.
We have experienced family law attorneys at both our Milwaukee and Madison offices.
Please call a Madison family law attorney directly at (608) 257-0040 or a Milwaukee family law attorney at (414) 271-8650, or email us via our Contact Page.