Are pre-marital assets divided in a Wisconsin divorce?

Attorney David N. Iancu discusses whether pre-marital assets are subject to property division in Wisconsin divorce cases.

Karp & Iancu is a premier divorce and family law firm serving all of Southeast Wisconsin with multiple offices throughout the metro-Milwaukee area. Our team of dedicated family law and divorce lawyers can help with all family needs, including, but not limited to divorce, legal separation, paternity, custody and placement modifications, alimony modifications, child support modifications, complex asset division, business division in divorce, retirement account division, mediation, arbitration, and more.

Video Transcript:
This is actually a question we get asked quite often and the answer is not as simple as it may seem. Wisconsin is a marital property law state. Under the Wisconsin statutes and under the Wisconsin case law, all assets and all debts of either party are subject to division at the time of divorce. That's both assets that are acquired during the marriage and premarital assets or debts that one of you may have had before the marriage. Now it doesn't end there though. The court has a lot of discretion and there's a list of factors in the statute which your attorney can talk to you about that will help to make arguments as to why premarital assets should or should not be included. Because despite the fact that presumptively premarital assets are included as marital property subject to division, the court has the discretion to not divide those assets or to divide it in a way that the court thinks is fair and equitable. Some of the factors include the amount of assets brought to the marriage or the length of the marriage, earning capacity of the parties. There are variety of factors that the court can consider, and you should consult with an experienced attorney if you have questions about premarital assets, whether you believe you should be entitled to premarital assets or you want to prevent your spouse from obtaining any of your premarital assets in the event of a divorce.

[Foxie]

Wisconsin law scary. Makes you want feel hopeless. I am the bread winner and now the lazy liar will take half.