In Wisconsin we have a special provision that allows parents to ask the court for help in making a parent comply with orders regarding physical placement. A parent who has been granted physical placement times under a court order may ask the court for help enforcing that placement order if any of the following circumstances apply:
a. The parent asking for enforcement has had one or more periods of their court ordered physical placement denied by the other parent or substantially interfered with by the other parent; or
b. The parent has had a financial loss or incurred an expense because of the other parent's failure to exercise one or more periods of the physical placement allocated to them under a court order.
When the court finds that a parent has denied or substantially interfered with the other parent's placement it is mandatory for the court to order make-up placement time and attorney fees and costs. In addition, the court can find the non-compliant parent in contempt and order the remedies available to encourage the obeyance of the placement order.
Other Enforcement Actions
Enforcement actions are a request to the court asking for the court's help in making a parent comply with a specific court order (a common example is payment of child support or maintenance).
After a hearing, if the court determines that a party did not comply with their responsibilities under a court order but had the ability to comply and chose not to without good reason then the court can find that party in contempt.
After a court finds that a party is in contempt it will determine what sanction is appropriate to motivate the party to comply with the court's order. A common sanction is for the party to be sentenced to a specified number of days in jail. However, the court is required to give the parent a chance to obey and abide by the court order and will determine purge conditions that, if met, will stay any jail sentence. A parent's failure to satisfy a purge condition will result in the court imposing the sanction of jail time.
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