Archives: Spousal Support

On July 12, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its opinion in McReath v. McReath, involving the challenging issues of salable goodwill and double-counting of property and income. In a case involving important issues, how did the court do? Overall, pretty well.

When the Wisconsin Supreme Court chose to accept review of Topolski v. Topolski, I wondered why, especially after the court had rejected review of several family law cases where its input would’ve been useful. On July 8, the high court issued its decision, which – yawn – did nothing to change my mind, or to justify the time and effort expended by this court in granting review.

An open letter to Wisconsin Lawmakers on spousal maintenance,

There’s an old joke about a husband not wanting to pay his wife any maintenance. The judge, after hearing the evidence, finds she is entitled to support and says, “I’m going to give her $1,000 per month.” The husband responds, “Damn nice of you, judge. I’ll kick in a couple hundred bucks of my own.”

While family lawyers were sleeping, two bullets were dodged with the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Tensfeldt v. Haberman, Or, more accurately, one bullet was dodged and one deflected for the time being.

The Court of Appeals decision in Heppner raises a number of serious questions, not the least of which is, whatever happened to trial court discretion?

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued one of the most … er … interesting decisions in family law in a long time.

A song by the Temptations comes to mind after reading Steinmann v. Steinmann. “Ball of Confusion.” That’s what the law of maintenance is today.

This is the second of three articles analyzing the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Steinmann v. Steinmann, examining its implications for marital property agreements.

Last month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its decision in its only pending family law case, Steinmann v. Steinmann. This is the first of three articles which will discuss the case, and its puzzling implications.