Archives: Wisconsin Court of Appeals

At first blush, a court of appeals case which is not recommended for publication, but may be cited, presents the common and troublesome issue of a child making choices. Upon closer reading, however, the case is much simpler.

Here is a look at the good, not-so-good and downright worst court opinions of the past year.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued a decision, Montalvo v. U.S. Title and Closing Services, LLC, seems to hold that personal service is required, even if the spouse had substantial contacts in the state and the requirements for service by publication were met.

A day late (due to the blizzard), perhaps legally wrong but politically correct, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the state’s Domestic Partnership law in Appling v. Doyle.

As reluctant as I am to ever compliment the court of appeals (it’s more fun to criticize!), I must play fair and give credit where credit is due.

Be careful of what you may say and listen carefully to what the other side says — and speak up if the other sides misstates the agreement.

The only Wisconsin court of appeals case in family law this past week dealt with an arbitrated divorce case. More interesting, although of little precedence value, are the attorney fees incurred in the case.

My understanding has always been that voided marriages are no good, no matter what, while voidable marriages can be made into valid marriages. But, I won’t bet on it!

Some times the lessons from caselaw could not be more obvious. A recent decision from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals provides such a teachable moment.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals’ decision in Dickau is the second appellate case dealing with the interrelationship between retirement and disability.