What happens at a temporary divorce hearing?

A temporary hearing addresses the issues that cannot reasonably wait until the divorce is final. Wisconsin divorces generally take months to complete, so the court may enter temporary orders governing the parties while the case is pending.

Depending on the case, temporary orders may address legal custody and physical placement,child support, maintenance, responsibility for household expenses and debts, use of the marital residence or vehicles, payment of health-insurance expenses, and other matters needed to preserve stability while the divorce proceeds. Temporary orders are not the final judgment, but they can have an important practical effect because they often establish the family’s operating arrangement during the litigation.

At the hearing, each party may present relevant information about income, expenses, children, living arrangements, and the relief being requested. The court commissioner or judge may take testimony, review financial disclosure information, and consider proposed temporary arrangements. A party should not assume that a temporary hearing is informal simply because the resulting order is temporary; the order remains enforceable unless it is changed by agreement or further court order.

A temporary order ordinarily remains in effect until it is modified, replaced by another order, or superseded by the final divorce judgment.

Primary Wisconsin authorities: Wis. Stat. §§ 767.215, 767.225, 767.235, and related provisions of ch. 767.