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143 Wis. 2d 347

421 N.W.2d 505

Stuart v. Stuart

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Decided April 6, 1988

Wisconsin Supreme Court · decided 1988-04-06

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“If at all possible, the parties in a divorce should best be able to terminate their relationships [in a single action]. They will have enough problems with the care, custody and support of children without having wounds reopened after the marriage is terminated regarding prior existing claims”

quoted by 1 later decision, including Hutchings v. Hutchings, No. 054449s (Feb. 22, 1993)

Relies on 139 Wis. 2d 778 - Marriage of Richardson v. Richardson

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1988-04-06

How this case has been cited

Cited by 54 later decisions — most recently May 2016 · most notably Delahunty v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance (1996), Hakkila v. Hakkila (1991)

3 federal appellate · 49 state decisions — followed in 13 states

3701988199020002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

*357STEINMETZ, J.

¶1(concurring). I agree with the majority opinion; however, I write separately to suggest that attorneys representing parties in a divorce action should make sure everything is out on the table if a settlement is being discussed. If the funds are to come from a third source, such as an insurance company, there could be no influence on a settlement of property or maintenance. We have already discussed the division of proceeds from a tort judgment as between the spouses in Marriage of Richardson v. Richardson, 139 Wis. 2d 778, 407 N.W.2d 231 (1987). However, if the funds are to come directly from one spouse, as would occur in an intentional tort action brought by one spouse against the other, this is best discussed at the time of the settlement, because it may affect asset distribution to some degree.

¶2If at all possible, the parties in a divorce should best be able to terminate their relationships. They will have enough problems with the care, custody and support of children without having wounds reopened after the marriage is terminated regarding prior existing claims.

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