Wisconsin is a no-fault divorce state, which means that a couple, or an individual, seeking a divorce do not have to prove to the court that there is any specific reason for the divorce, or that one party has committed any specific action that would justify the marriage ending. Instead, the parties can simply assert that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and there is no reason for it to continue.
In some cases, however, one partner may assert that the marriage has reached the point of no return, while the other may argue that the marriage can still be salvaged, and divorce is not the correct course of action. When this happens, the court must look at all of the information and factors available in determining whether to allow the divorce to move forward.
In a recent Wisconsin divorce case, Marriage of John v. Fritz-Klaus, Mr. John initiated divorce proceedings against Ms. Fritz-Klaus after they had been married for approximately five years. Mr. John told the court that they had been living apart for the last two months and that after an extensive period of trying to work through marital issues, the marriage was irretrievably broken and could not be fixed. In response, Ms. Fritz-Klaus told the court that she believed the marriage could be saved and that she wanted to work things out rather than pursue a divorce. She requested that the court allow the two parties to engage in counseling for a period of time before moving forward with the divorce. The court initially agreed and ordered Mr. John and Ms. Fritz-Klaus to attend counseling sessions together.