Divorce Lawyer Serving Green Bay, WI

Wisconsin guidelines require a payor to support their child based on a percentage of their gross (pre-tax) income:

As with many areas of family law, there are exceptions to this rule. Examples of times where these percentages do not apply are when a payor has an extraordinarily high or low income. Other circumstances are when a payor has support obligations to other children or when there is a shared placement agreement. The shared placement scenario is the most common reason for deviation from the guidelines and is triggered when the parent with less time has at least 91 overnights per year. 

This triggers the use of a shared placement formula, which factors the exact number of overnights each parent has per year along with the incomes of both parents. As a general rule in this circumstance, the more overnights you have, the less child support you pay. Because incomes and placement schedules frequently change, child support is one of the most frequently modified family law orders. The rules and reasons for modifications are very specific and the help of a qualified family law attorney is often a must to ensure a fair support order.

Courts must consider several factors when determining the length and duration of maintenance should they decide to award maintenance. These factors include:

• The length of the marriage.
• The age and physical and emotional health of the parties.
• The property division.
• The educational level of each party at the time of the marriage and at the time the action is commenced.
• The earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance.
• The feasibility that the party seeking maintenance can become self-supporting at a standard of living reasonably comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage and, if so, the length of time necessary to achieve this goal.
• The tax consequences to each party.
• Any mutual agreement made by the parties before or during the marriage.
• The contribution by one party to the education, training, or increased earning power of the other.
• Such other factors as the court may in each case determine to be relevant.
  

As all these factors interrelate, you must have a divorce attorney who is experienced in dealing with maintenance cases. You must be able to weigh the true needs of the recipient against the ability to pay off the payor. Often slight changes to child support, tax exemptions, or the division of property can have dramatic effects on the amount and length of maintenance. Brabazon Law Office can help you calculate a fair maintenance award now and will look to your future needs and make sure that you have the best chance of being able to support yourself in the future.

Should any of these areas be contested, you have a right to a trial. Even if you are in a committed relationship and living with the other parent, establishing paternity can be important. The family law attorneys at Brabazon law office will meet with you and discuss your specific situation to determine whether starting an action is in your best interest. 

If a child is born to a mother while she is married, her husband is presumed to be the father of the child. In cases where the father of the child is not the husband, such as when a wife has been unfaithful or where the parties have separated and simply never bothered to get a divorce, the court will presume that the husband is the legal father of a child even though he is not the biological father. This is called the “marital presumption,” and the attorneys at Brabazon Law Office have handled many cases where we have challenged and ultimately overcome the marital presumption. 

Whether you are the mother, the husband, or the biological father, handling a marital presumption case is extremely important and complex. As a husband, you could be responsible for paying child support for a child that is not yours! As a biological father, you could lose the rights to your child altogether! To protect yourself and ensure the best interests of your child, you must educate yourself, and Brabazon Law Office has the experience and knowledge to do just that. 

If you feel that your situation has changed and that the divorce judgment or other family law-related judgment no longer fits your situation, contact one of the experienced family law attorneys at Brabazon Law Office and find out how we can work with you to get the best possible resolution. You must find someone to help represent and guide you through this process, who has a track history of results--and that is exactly what you’ll get when you work with the Green Bay family law attorneys at Brabazon Law Office.

Enforcement of Child Support Orders

When a parent receiving child support is having difficulty or not receiving the support ordered by the Court, that parent may seek to enforce a judgment for child support through the local county child support enforcement agency. 

Where the paying parent is behind on their child support payments, arrearages can be obtained by income withholding, interception of state and federal tax refunds, interception of unemployment insurance payments, collection by a collection agency, or liens on personal assets or property. There are additional administrative remedies available to collect child support payments. Such remedies may include property seizure and driver’s license suspension or revocation. 

To determine whether child support can be enforced in which manner, contact one of our family law attorneys at Brabazon Law Office.

Vacation or Revocation of Judgment of Divorce

There are occasions when the parties to a divorce decide to reconcile after their divorce has been finalized. There are manners in which divorced parties can essentially “undo” a divorce. A divorce judgment can be “vacated” if the parties reconcile within six months of the divorce. When a divorce judgment is vacated, the parties return to their prior marital status. The parties do not have to remarry. 

If more than six months have passed since the divorce judgment, the parties will have to remarry. Once they have remarried, the parties can apply for a “revocation of judgment.” Such a revocation will not affect the rights of third parties, and there is additional paperwork that must be completed where either party was the recipient of certain types of state aid. 

In either situation, the parties must provide the court with specific documents and then proceed with a hearing, which will likely take place before a court commissioner. For more information regarding the required forms and paperwork, contact one of the experienced family law attorneys at Brabazon Law Office.

Revision of Judgment

Divorce and other family law judgments can be modified under the appropriate circumstances. Types of judgments that can be modified include child support orders, family support orders, as well as custody and placement orders. However, property division or a judgment waiving maintenance cannot be revised or modified.

Where there has been a “substantial change in circumstances,” a party may motion the court for a revision of the judgment. Determining what type of change in circumstances qualifies as “substantial” can be difficult. There are many factors to be considered concerning the modification of a child support order. One of the family law attorneys at Brabazon Law Office can advise you and assist you in determining whether a judgment modification is appropriate in your situation.

Relief from Judgment

There are circumstances where a party seeks relief from judgment. Such relief does not require a substantial change in circumstances, as is the case with a revision of the judgment. Relief from an order regarding property division is difficult. However, a party can file a motion to reopen the property division portion of the judgment if it is within one year of the judgment, and the original property division was based on the adverse party’s mistake or fraud. Extraordinary circumstances are required to reopen a judgment. The following is a list of some of the reasons a person may request relief from a judgment:

• Mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.
• Newly discovered evidence.
• Fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party.
• The reversal or vacation of a prior judgment on which the current judgment is based; and
• It is no longer equitable that the judgment continues to be applicable.
  

There are additional circumstances under which a Court may determine that relief from judgment is appropriate. To find out whether your situation may qualify for relief from judgment, contact one of the family law attorneys at Brabazon Law Office.

Enforcement of Physical Placement Orders

Where there are physical placement orders and one of the parties is denying or substantially interfering with the other party’s periods of physical placement, the parent whose placement has been interfered with may petition the court for enforcement of the physical placement order. 

If the Court makes a finding that the responding party has intentionally and unreasonably denied or substantially interfered with the other party’s periods of physical placement, the following are actions the Court may take:

• Impose additional placement periods to replace those denied or interfered with.
• Impose a monetary award to cover the cost of attorney fees and bring the matter to court.
• Issue an order with a specific placement schedule if not already outlined in the original order.
• Hold the responding party in contempt of court.
• Grant an injunction ordering the responding party to comply with the placement order.
  

If you are facing allegations regarding child welfare or child protection issues, you need to contact one of our experienced attorneys at Brabazon Law Office immediately. You must have someone working for you who will aggressively defend you against such accusations and work to protect the rights of you and your family.

Our Green Bay attorneys at Brabazon Law Office have extensive experience in both criminal and family law matters, both of which come into play in a family service, child protection, or child welfare case. You must have a child protective services attorney who has a strong understanding of both types of the law so they can get you the best possible resolution to the case. At Brabazon Law Office, we are frequently called by both individuals and the courts to represent parents and children in C.H.I.P.S. matters. We have a successful track record of keeping families together and minimizing the problems that can result when a family is forced to go through a child welfare or child protection process.

A child adoption attorney from our firm can guide you through all phases of the adoption process. In addition to measures to assess parental fitness, there are policies and procedures related to adoption law that will be fully explained. For example, adoptive parents have the same legal duties for the care and support of the child as natural parents. Additionally, adoptive children are afforded the same benefits as natural-born children. 

When you need an experienced child adoption law attorney, you can rely on the attorneys at Brabazon Law Office to handle your adoption legal needs. We have guided many families through the process of both domestic and foreign adoptions and have extensive knowledge of the legal process and requirements.