The information on this page is primarily of interest to lawyers. The procedures used by self-represented litigants may be different than what is described on this page. Self-represented litigants should not assume that the procedures described on this page are applicable to their case.
eFiling
Green County, WI has mandatory eFiling for all family court cases. Please see the Wisconsin Court System eFiling site. After eFiling a document you do not need to send a paper copy to the Family Court. When you efile a document that needs to be held 5 days, note that information in the “Notes to Clerk” field. Please do not send a letter requesting a hold to the Commissioner, it is just needless clutter.
TIPS FOR PRACTICING IN GREEN COUNTY FAMILY COURT
Local Rules: Read the Green County Local Rules. We have tried to provide enough information to allow you to smoothly conduct your case in Green County Family Court.
Office Hours: The Green County Family Court Commissioner’s Office is not staffed full-time. We try to be available 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Appearing by Telephone: If you file a Motion or Order to Show Cause we expect you to be present in person to conduct the hearing. For other hearings, requests to appear by telephone and related matters must be emailed to fcc@greencountywi.org. Family Court staff do not have access to CCAP and cannot process requests submitted electronically through that system. If you are allowed to appear by telephone it is your responsibility to call in at the scheduled time. We will not call you. We may need to put you on hold while finishing prior matters.
Hearings: Hearings are conducted as offers of proof. Witness testimony is almost never allowed. Motions and Orders to Show Cause, other than those in which the Child Support Agency is involved, are set in 30 minute intervals.
Counsel are required to discuss potential settlement with the opposing party or attorney prior to the hearing time.
Setting hearings:
Prior to filing a Motion or Order to Show Cause, attorneys must email the Family Court Office at fcc@greencountywi.org to obtain a date and time for their hearing. The attorney wishing to schedule is responsible for coordinating the time with opposing counsel, if any.
Motions filed by attorneys without a date, or with “to be scheduled by the Court” as the date, will await an email as described above. Motions and Orders to Show Cause filed by self-represented parties are given dates at the convenience of the court.
Do not schedule motions on top of pretrials. Pretrials are scheduled for 15 minutes and your motion will not be heard at that time.
Final Hearings: In Green County, final hearings are heard by the Judge assigned to the case. Once the Commissioner is satisfied that all the necessary paperwork is filed, the Commissioner will send a Certificate of Readiness to the Circuit Court. Once received, the Circuit Court will set the date and time of the final hearing.
Green County has created a Variable Expense Checklist (located in the forms section of this site) that must be filed prior to receiving a Certificate of Readiness in cases involving shared placement. Unless the parties agree, each shall file the checklist.
Guideline Child Support must be calculated and that calculation either incorporated into the Marital Settlement Agreement or filed in a separate document. If a deviation is requested, a sound reason for the same must be provided in writing. The Commissioner will not approve a deviation based solely on the agreement of the parties to deviate without a financial basis.
Court Hearing Schedule:
Monday – no hearings
Tuesday – Telephone pretrial conferences are scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to approximately 3:00 p.m. in cases where all parties are represented by counsel. These hearings are for counsel ONLY. Each hearing is scheduled for 15 minutes and counsel call in. The commissioner can join 3 incoming calls to a conference. If more than 3 attorneys need to appear, the attorneys need to arrange a conference call. The telephone number may be obtained by emailing our staff at fcc@greencountywi.org. Do not call the main number for your Tuesday hearing. These hearings are not available to self-represented parties. To avoid potential ex parte communication, the commissioner’s direct number is not to be released to parties.
Wednesday- Child Support Agency hearings are scheduled on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 10:30 a.m. Each 15 minute slot has 2 hearings scheduled. Pretrial hearings are scheduled in 15 minute increments beginning approximately 10:45 a.m. until noon. Motion and Order to Show Cause hearings are scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in 30 minute intervals.
Thursday – The Commissioner may schedule additional hearings on the first and third Thursdays of the month from 9:00 a.m. to noon if the Wednesday calendar is full or if other circumstances warrant.
Friday – no hearings
Misc. Links
Domestic Abuse Guidebook for Wisconsin Guardians ad Litem – download