Divorce – Maintenance

Listen to this article

WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Stacy Renee Wiemeri v. Brian Scott Wiemeri

Case No.: 2018AP1657

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

Focus: Divorce – Maintenance

Brian Wiemeri appeals a divorce judgment that terminated his marriage to Stacy Wiemeri. He argues the circuit court erred by: (1) denying rather than reserving him maintenance; and (2) reserving jurisdiction over the parties’ property division. We conclude the court did not erroneously exercise its discretion by denying Brian maintenance, and we reject Brian’s argument that the court reserved jurisdiction over the property division. We therefore affirm with respect to these issues.

Brian also argues that the circuit court erred when dividing the parties’ property by awarding him a $100,000 retirement account that did not, in fact, exist. Stacy concedes that what the court characterized as a retirement account was actually deferred compensation from 2016 that Brian received in 2017. She argues, however, that the court could treat the deferred compensation as an asset for purposes of the property division and that it properly awarded that asset to Brian. We disagree. The court’s oral ruling clearly shows that it mistakenly believed the deferred compensation was a retirement account. Moreover, even if the court understood that the deferred compensation was not a retirement account, the evidence in the record was insufficient to establish the value of the deferred compensation and what happened to those funds after Brian received them. We therefore reverse in part and remand for the circuit court to determine the value of the deferred compensation and, if possible, what happened to that money. The court must then reconsider the property division in light of that information.

Full Text

Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.