Custody & Visitation Issues
The Wood County Child Support Agency cannot enforce or change custody and/or placement orders; if the need for court involvement
arises, you may contact a private attorney. If a private attorney is not feasible, you may contact the Wood County Family
Court Commissioner, Attorney Richard Weymouth. Be advised Commissioner Weymouth does not represent either party involved
in the case and can only provide broad procedural information in regard to rules of procedure. He cannot provide legal advice.
If you feel the current custody and/or placement of the court order merits a change and both parties are not in agreement, you may
file a
Request for Court Ordered Mediation with the Wood County Clerk of Courts Office.
Family Court Commissioner Contact Information
Richard Weymouth
715-697-3458
Visitation Guidelines
The Wood County Family Court Commissioner has drawn up visitation
guidelines for paternity cases and they have been adopted by the Wood County Judges
on May 24, 2007. These guidelines are just that, guidelines and will only be used
in normal situations, as defined later. The Family Court Commissioner's guidelines
reflect input received from Child Psychologists, Family Mediators and other Attorney's
from around the State of Wisconsin to ensure relevance in keeping the best interest
of the child in the forefront of everyone's mind.
Paternity
Child Access Plan Guidelines (PDF Format)
The Wood County Child Support Agency will attach visitation guidelines to New Paternity
Orders in normal situations only. These guidelines will not be utilized if there
is evidence or a history of child abuse by a parent, domestic abuse between the
parents, significant mental disease or defect, significant alcohol or other drug
abuse problems, or a significant geographic distance between the parents' respective
residences.
In a new paternity order, with a normal situation, the wording in the order shall
be as follows:
Non-Custodial Parent (parent who is not the primary caretaker) shall have periods
of physical placement (visitation) at reasonable times upon reasonable notice, however,
if the parties cannot mutually agree on reasonable visitation, Exhibit A shall serve
as the minimum.
Scroll down on this page for definitions of some of the terms in the above paragraph.
If the parties don't agree to the imposition of the guidelines as a part of the
court order, the court is likely to impose them on a temporary basis and require
the parties to pursue mediation and, if that doesn't result in an agreement, then
a contested hearing will be scheduled. A contested hearing may mean that a court
would require the moving party or possibly both parties to pay for a custody study
and the appointment of a Guardian ad Litem to represent the best interests of the
child. This is all likely to cost each party several thousand dollars, even if they
don't hire their own counsel.
If at any time the parties have questions about the guidelines, those questions
should be directed to the Family Court Commissioner's office. The Wood County Child
Support Agency does not and will not enforce visitation but will place the guidelines
in the orders as a starting point for the parties.
Custody & Visitation Terms and Definitions
- Custody
"Custody" includes, but is not limited to, making decisions regarding consent to
marry, consent to enter military service, consent to obtain a motor vehicle operator's
license, authorization for nonemergency health care and choice of school and religion.
- Joint Custody
"Joint Custody" means the condition under which both parties share legal custody
and neither party's custody rights are superior, except with respect to specified
decisions as set forth by the court or the parties in the final judgment or order.
- Joint Legal Custody
"Joint Legal Custody" is child custody arrangement where each parent shares the
rights and responsibilities to make major decisions concerning the child.
- Physical placement
"Physical placement" which is also simply called "Placement", means the time periods
when a person has the right to have a child physically placed with them and have
the right and responsibility to make, during that placement, routine daily decisions
regarding the child's care.
- Primary Physical Placement
"Primary Physical Placement" is a reference to the primary caretaker of the child
and the primary home of the child.
- Visitation
"Visitation" refers to the noncustodial parent's rights to access (see) the child.
The word placement is used to mean placement of a child that is not primary.
- Reasonable Visitation upon Reasonable Advance Notice
"Reasonable Visitation upon Reasonable Advance Notice" is a method of granting the
parent without primary placement the right to see the child upon giving adequate
notice to the parent with primary placement. This method of fixing placement leaves
it to the parties to work out the scheduling of visitation but places primary control
in the party with primary physical placement.