Archives: Placement

After Michael Gough’s divorce in Utah, he found himself living 1,000 miles away from his four year old daughter. Not satisfied with simple telephone calls in between physical visitations, he sought a court order allowing “virtual visitation” through electronic communication.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision in Landwehr v. Landwehr is the first family law case on the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s September 2005 term docket.

In a previous article, we looked at the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s significant family law cases from 2004. In this article, I will focus on significant 2004 cases decided by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

In Rumpff v. Rumpff, the District II Court of Appeals called into question the definition of “equivalent care” and the efficacy of the sharing of “variable expenses” in the state’s child support guidelines.

A recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision, which is recommended for publication, contradicts long-held beliefs regarding the ability of parties to contract for determination of child issues outside of the court system.

What happens when new legislation causes a direct conflict with an existing statute? Did the Wisconsin legislature forget about the existing law? How does an appellate court, which is supposed to interpret statutes, not rewrite them, deal with such a conflict?

On the one hand, some courts have moral qualms about overnight guests, especially if the divorce is not final. On the other hand, society seems to have accepted far more permissive bounds of sexual conduct today than in the past. Where should the line be drawn?

Gov. Jim Doyle recently signed into law 2003 Wisconsin Act 130. Among other things, this bill creates a rebuttable presumption against awarding legal custody to a parent who has engaged in a pattern or serious incident of domestic abuse, requires a GAL and mediator to have training related to domestic violence and requires the GAL to investigate whether either party has engaged in domestic violence.

The issue of jurisdiction over family court issues became clearer recently when the Supreme Court of Wisconsin issued its opinion in Tammie J.C. v. Robert T.C., 2003 WI 61.

When there is a significant dispute over children, in most jurisdictions the court will appoint a representative for the child.