WI child custody laws, hearing for temporary custody

If the court has entered an order requiring 50/50 placement, you are required to follow the order. Having said that, it can be difficult to "force" teenagers to follow placement schedules. Teens typically have their own lives and are not interested in spending time with parents. If this placement scheme is not working, you have some options. First, if the temporary order was made by a court commissioner, you may file a motion for de novo review of the order with the assigned judge. This means that the judge will take a "fresh" look at the situation and decide whether this placement plan is appropriate. Second, if the temporary order was made by the judge, you may be able to file a motion for reconsideration of the order indicating that the children do not want to spend time with their mother. A third option is to ask the court to appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL) to represent the best interests of your children. The GAL will then do an investigation and make recommendations to the court regarding placemnet. Finally, I suggest that you take your children to counseling to address the issues involving the divorce and how alcoholism is affecting them. It may be helpful to invite your soon to be ex-spouse to take part in these counseling sessions, as she may not know how the children feel about the present placement schedule. Remember that you and she may be getting a divorce, but your children will consider both of you as their family for the rest of their lives. If you can talk this issue out as a family, your child will have the chance to heal a lot sooner. Good luck!

It is hard to answer without knowing the specific language of the order. Did they use the word equally or shared. If shared then it is less clear the amount of time they will be spending with each parent. Often the parties are sent to mediation and the order is only until the parents come to an agreement in mediation. On the question whether you have to force your kids to do anything, it is difficult to force teens to do much. The other parent could call the police to try to enforce the order (or go to court asking that you are in contempt) but without times the police are unlikely to do anything other than talk to the kids and see why they don't want to go. If they have legitimate reasons, the officers are unlikely to force them. It appears that what you really need is an attorney to help you with this situation. A local attorney can discuss your options with you. I would encourage you to contact one immediately.