Wisconsin is a “community property” state, which means any property that has been acquired (by either party) prior to or during the course of the marriage is considered marital property. Regardless of which spouse is the titled owner of the marital home, each spouse has half of the interest in the home and has the same right to use and reside in the home. This right can be varied by court order or contract.
When dividing your property and debt, the court begins with a presumption to equally divide all assets, debts, and liabilities. Property includes real estate, vehicles, retirement accounts and pensions, personal belongings, debt, bank accounts, recreational toys, animals, etc.
Wisconsin Statute Section 767.61(3) provides factors for the courts to consider when a property is not being equally divided:
When making your decisions on property division, maintain the primary goal of securing long-term stability.
In Wisconsin, most property is considered marital property. Property may be considered individual property of a party and not subject to division if it was:
Ultimately, the court may need to decide if the property is to be excluded from division in the marital estate based on when the asset was gifted or inherited. Excluded property is deemed individual property.
While the law presumes all property is communal property, the parties often negotiate the division of the assets acquired during the marriage and exclude their premarital assets as their individual property. However, an argument can be made that the premarital interests are so commingled with marital assets that they have lost their individual interest and have become all marital. Such an argument requires a careful review of the facts and the help of an experienced attorney.
In addition to being the largest assets, family homes, vacation homes, and other properties often hold precious family memories. In Wisconsin, there is a presumption that the value of real estate properties will be divided 50.50 in a divorce. Exceptions may occur if the property was given as a gift or inherited.
Wisconsin is a community property state, meaning the court begins all divorce proceedings with the baseline presumption that a 50/50 split of all marital property is fair and equitable. All bank accounts of either party, whether they are jointly held or only in one spouse’s name, are considered marital property. If you believe you should be entitled to more than 50% of marital property, it will be up to you and your attorney to prove it to the court.
Certain assets, such as ones acquired through gifts or inheritance, are not subject to 50/50 division. However, to maintain the individual nature of the asset the receiving spouse must not have comingled those things with marital property by adding gifted or inherited assets into a joint checking or savings account.
It is often beneficial to discuss and negotiate how your property will be divided with your spouse. Negotiating with your spouse and respective attorneys allows you to decide how marital property will be divided, rather than forcing the court to make the decision.
A 50/50 split may not be the best option for you or your spouse, and making the decisions between yourselves is often the best way to achieve favorable outcomes for everybody involved. An attorney from Divergent Family Law will be able to guide you through negotiations to help secure ideal resolutions for your divorce case and your bank accounts.
One of the biggest questions people have when they are going through a divorce is, “Who gets the house?” The answer is different for everyone, so it’s critical to understand how property division works in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin law presumes parties getting a divorce should divide all of their property equally. This can include cars, bank accounts, retirement savings, debt, and finally, the house.
The 3 most common options for dealing with a home in a Wisconsin divorce include:
A buyout could happen in exchange for another shared asset such as a business or retirement accounts.
Another option for a buyout is to refinance the home in your name and offer your ex-spouse a cash payout from the new mortgage.
Some couples prefer this option, as it offers straightforward solutions and affords each party a chance to move on and leave memories behind.
This is good when you want to be on the other end of a buyout. Or, this can be used as a way to avoid alimony payments.
Many couples choose to sell their home and split the equity equally, which is often the simplest option. Depending on your unique situation, you and your ex-spouse may choose a different path to better suit your needs.
If you wish to sell the home, review the current real estate market to determine if it’s best to sell your home now or wait to sell your home in a more desirable market. Work with a real estate agent to learn what steps you need to take to make your home ready for showing and sale and to get an idea of what asking price you should set for your home.
Remember, all debts associated with your home will need to be paid off in the sale, including the mortgage and home equity lines of credit.
Wisconsin is a community property state, meaning that the assets and debts of each spouse belong to both spouses (with some exceptions). During a divorce or legal separation, the parties work toward a property division agreement. Wisconsin law begins with the presumption that the property division will be split equally, 50/50.
There are certain exceptions to the law’s presumption of an equal property division – including for inherited property. Wisconsin law defines inherited property as property that comes to the party as the result of the death of another person (including cash and investments). Wisconsin law further states that inherited property “shall remain the property of that party and is not subject to a property division” during a divorce.
However, the law contains exceptions to this general rule. A court may find that inherited property should be divided between the spouses if not dividing the property will create a hardship on the other spouse or children.
One of the things that an inheritance can do is offer people the chance for home ownership. Many people use a portion of their inheritance towards the downpayment on a marital home. A home is a great investment, but know that using inherited funds as a downpayment will result in that portion being considered marital property.
In the event of a divorce, the parties, attorneys and courts will be looking at whether inherited property has been mixed with marital property. If so, it has more than likely become marital property.
So, keep it separate! Your inheritance should remain in separate cash or investment accounts, or kept for your personal enjoyment and use, rather than the enjoyment and use of the marriage.
Even if you do your best to keep things separate, there are still ways that portions of inherited property can become marital. For example, the growth of inherited investment accounts may under some circumstances be marital.
Debts you or your spouse incurred during the marriage are presumed to be in the interest of your marriage. Therefore, debts are also a shared asset in marriage and in divorce.
After the temporary hearing, it will be up to the parties or their attorneys to negotiate how assets and debts will be divided after the divorce is finalized.
Wisconsin is a community property state, meaning all assets and debts a person owns, whether they were acquired before or during the marriage, are considered marital property. There are certain exceptions to community property laws.
Your attorney will take all these factors into account while negotiating the division of debt in your case.
Unsecured debt is often in the form of credit card debt or personal loans. To allocate unsecured debt during a divorce, attorneys and the court will take into account factors like who originally incurred the debt, whose name is on the account, when the account was opened and who has been making payments.
Mortgage debt will likely be assigned to the party keeping the marital home. The spouse staying in the home will often have to “buy” the other party out, in that the party will have to give the other spouse ½ the equity of the home. The party staying in the home will then be responsible for paying the remaining balance of the mortgage.
Auto loan debt for particular vehicles is most often assigned to the party keeping the vehicle. If the vehicle is in the other party’s name, the person keeping the vehicle will have to refinance the vehicle into a loan in their own name.
Student loan debt is most often assigned to the party whose education was paid for using the loan. It is possible for the court or attorneys to assign the debt to the other party, but this situation usually involves other extenuating circumstances.
The division of medical debt can become complicated. The court will usually treat it as joint debt if both parties are relatively healthy. If the medical debt is a result of an elective procedure, it may be assigned to the person who benefited from the procedure. If the medical debt is for the children of the parties, it will be distributed equally.
The court will usually award each party to individually pay any debts they incurred during the timeframe of the divorce proceedings.
Who gets the wedding rings depends on the specifics of the case. Many people try to argue the ring was a gift, but under Wisconsin law, gifts between the parties are considered to be marital property. Wedding rings are subject to Marital division in a divorce.
If the ring was an engagement ring given before the marriage, you could argue that the ring is a premarital gift and not subject to division. However, if your engagement ring is soldered together with the wedding ring as one piece, and they become one piece, you could argue the ring is marital property.
If original engagement/wedding rings were lost and you purchased new ones during the marriage, they too become marital property subject to be divided. If the parties come to an agreement as to who keeps the ring, the court will honor the agreement.
In a Wisconsin divorce, animals are considered property to be divided. If you proceed to trial, the animal will be given to one party or the other. The court will not order a “placement” schedule for animals. Pet ownership is dictated by the surrounding facts and circumstances of your case.
If you are battling over ownership of your pet at trial, make sure to bring evidence of who provides primary care of the pet, who has more available time, and who has the greater means to provide for the pet. Evidence that the pet was a gift to you is also a good strategy for gaining ownership of your pet.
While the courts may approve an agreement of the parties to do a shared placement schedule of the animals, it will likely do so with the warning that the court views the animals as property. Upon any disagreement, the court may allocate the animal to one party or the other.
In the early stages of a divorce case, either party can petition the court for a temporary hearing. A temporary hearing allows the Commissioner or Judge to make a temporary decision on which party will pay which debts in order to preserve the family’s financial stability while the divorce is pending.
During the temporary hearing, a party can ask for family support, (also called child support if there are children, and/ or spousal maintenance). A party can also make requests for the other party to pay or contribute to the mortgage or rent, utilities and other expenses. The court’s decision on expenses will be based on each party’s individual circumstances.
Hiring an experienced lawyer from the start of your case is very important. Contact Divergent Family Law for advisement as soon as possible if you are going through a divorce.
Your divorce is finalized, and you can finally start to move forward with your life. Hopefully, you have well-laid-out financial terms, but now it’s time to adjust to your new situation.
The first thing to do is to review the new finances and expenses you have after the divorce has been finalized. You should make a detailed list and divide the finances and expenses into categories.
Next, consider which of those expenses you expect to be long-term expenses. For example, if you downsize from the family home, chances are the monthly expenses for housing will be lower than they have been. Conversely, you may now have additional income from support or maintenance to help with monthly expenses. The main goal is to be as realistic as possible to build an optimal starting point for your new financial situation.
If the court orders you to pay maintenance, you will need to create a new portion of your budget to include those payments. Keep in mind there may be tax implications from maintenance payments, so make sure to consult a tax expert to distribute your budget properly.
Maintenance payments may change over time, depending on how they are precisely laid out in the terms of your divorce. It’s important to build a budget to work with the addition of the full maintenance payments, then modifications to the payments can act as a bonus.
Keep in mind if you have a substantial reduction in income, you can request the court modify the maintenance. If you need modifications to maintenance payments, you should act as quickly as possible after a significant reduction in your income. The most important thing is to avoid getting behind on payments because it could negatively impact your financial stability.
You can finally put the stress of the divorce behind you, and now’s the time to focus on your career. Putting your energy into your work will help you excel and almost certainly benefit you financially. With added time you can work toward promotions or even go back to school to elevate your earning potential.
Securing a stable income seems simple, but it is the best first step to moving your life forward. It will help boost your ability to have an overall better quality of life.
After a divorce, people often have one or two perspectives on their marital home. Either they find it difficult to leave the memories from the family home, or they may want to put the past behind them and start fresh. Either way, moving out of the family home and downsizing to a smaller home or apartment can have significant financial benefits.
Yes, if you start a business during the marriage, a court may consider the value of the business, including assets and receivables, as marital property. Your spouse may receive part or even half of your business in a divorce. Since it may be difficult to physically divide a business, a court may allocate another marital asset that is equal to the value of your business. The court may also order assets from the business to be paid to the ex-spouse.
Retirement funds are included in assets that can be divided. When gathering all the assets and debt information in your marital estate, it is often a balancing act in determining who will keep which assets and debt.
If you have enough assets that are equal in value to your retirement account, then your spouse could opt to receive those assets, and you could keep your retirement account.
All assets must be disclosed during the financial disclosure phase of the divorce. If you believe your spouse is hiding assets, our attorneys could help you investigate public records to find evidence. Keep track of your bank account records, credit card statements, and previous tax statements. Furthermore, you can demand documents and information from your spouse with a formal request.
Generally, if student loans were taken out before marriage, they would be considered individual property. If the loan was taken out during the marriage, however, you could be liable for your spouse’s student loan debt. If your spouse took out loans for the purpose of supporting your family, the loans have a higher likelihood of being considered marital debt. A court will look at many facts and perform an economic analysis when ruling on the division of student loan debt in marriage.
Spousal abandonment rarely affects property division or support. It can affect child custody and visitation rights.
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