A favorable La Fleur Law appeal in a Wisconsin divorce case resulted in a military pension being treated as marital property subject to division, not simply as income of the spouse receiving the pension.
Founder and owner Catherine La Fleur handled the appeal in Kelly v. Dorschner, No. 24AP2069, where the Court of Appeals District IV reversed and remanded the divorce judgment after concluding that the circuit court erroneously treated a military pension as income, rather than as marital property subject to division.
The Court of Appeals reinforced that pensions, including military pensions, are property for purposes of property division in divorce, and that Wisconsin law presumes marital property should be divided equally unless the court properly considers the relevant statutory factors and explains why a different result is appropriate.
“The distinction is critical because, when people go through divorce, the financial details matter,” said La Fleur, who founded the Wisconsin-based civil litigation firm in 1996 and has nearly 40 years of experience in litigation, appellate law, family law, and alternative dispute resolution. “If a pension is treated only as one spouse’s income, rather than as marital property, the other spouse may be deprived of a fair share of an asset accumulated during the marriage.”
La Fleur argued that the trial court did not properly handle the financial structure of the divorce. In this case, the lower court awarded the homemaking spouse only 10% of the pension in lieu of maintenance, an outcome the Court of Appeals found was not properly supported.
The Court of Appeals also determined that the circuit court failed to adequately support several other decisions in the record, including assigning student loan debt to one spouse, determining that maintenance was unnecessary, and partially relieving the pensioned spouse of the obligation to pay spousal benefit premiums.
Following the successful appeal, the case returned to the trial court. After additional proceedings, including discovery related to employment and valuation of the military pension, the parties reached a resolution that included an equal division of the pension, a maintenance agreement for half the length of the marriage, and a contribution by the respondent toward the appellant’s student loan.
Why This Matters for Divorce Clients
Complex divorce cases require careful attention to detail. This appeals court decision is significant because it reinforces an important principle: major financial decisions in a divorce must be supported by the facts in the record and must properly apply Wisconsin law.
The decision also underscores the importance of having counsel who understands both Family Law and Appellate Law, and who knows how to identify when a trial court’s decision may not be supported by the record or may not properly apply Wisconsin law.
For clients facing divorce, especially matters involving pensions, retirement benefits, maintenance, debt, or other significant financial issues, the outcome highlights the value of experienced legal counsel who can protect their interests at every stage of the process.
About La Fleur Law: Founded in 1996 by owner Catherine La Fleur, La Fleur Law is a certified woman-owned civil litigation law firm with offices in Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Minocqua. Representing clients in civil litigation, family law, elder law, appellate law, real estate litigation, alternative dispute resolution, mediation, among other civil disputes, La Fleur Law attorneys have more than 100 years of combined experience handling cases in state and federal courts throughout Wisconsin and consulting on matters outside the state.