For residents of West Bend, any criminal charge is likely to be taken very seriously. Having said that, it may be understood that different offenses carry with them various penalties. Most may be familiar with the terms “felony” and “misdemeanor,” and recognize that these offenses differ. In the simplest terms, Section 939.60 of the Wisconsin state statutes says that felonies are offenses punishable by imprisonment, while all others are considered to be misdemeanors. There are, however, distinctions within these classes of offenses, and even a third category of crimes many may not know about.
Reviewing the different categories of crimes in Wisconsin
Understanding how to use a QDRO
Divorcing Wisconsin spouses who may need to split retirement accounts should learn about the qualified domestic relations order. As explained by the United States Department of Labor, a QDRO allows people to legally establish a second payee on some types of retirement accounts that are governed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. This allows that alternate payee to receive either a single distributeion or multiple distributions from that account just as the account owner would.
Can your child or spousal support agreements be revised?
If you are like many of the others in West Bend that are currently required to fulfill a spousal or child support obligation, then you likely try to stay current with your payments both to remain in the good graces of your children and/or ex and to avoid the potential trouble that missed payments can bring. Yet what if you lose your job or experience some other drastic change of circumstances that affects how much you earn? Fortunately, the law does allow you to have your case revisited in such a situation.
How is debt divided in a divorce?
If you and your spouse are choosing to divorce, then you may not have to worry about him or her making off with all of your property in West Bend. Wisconsin is a marital property state, meaning that all marital assets are subject to equal division in a divorce. Yet what about your debts? You and your spouse may a have a shared mortgage, as well as joint credit cards. Is all of this shared equally, as well?
Difference between parole and probation
The criminal justice system is fairly complex and often involves various terms and regulations that can be quite confusing to the average person. For instance, perhaps you've heard someone in Wisconsin refer to parole and probation interchangeably, as though they were the same things. If you, however, have some sort of background in law or have had prior experience navigating the system, you might be aware that these terms pertain to two very different conditions within the criminal justice process.
