767.471.Enforcement of physical placement orders.
Subch. V: Child Custody, Placement, and Visitation · Last amended 2005 · Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 · Last verified September 8, 2026
Full Text of Section 767.471
Official Notes
Wisconsin prints certain labelled notes with the statute — effective-date notes, cross-references, and notes of the Judicial Council. They are reproduced verbatim below. The unlabelled digest of court decisions that the Legislative Reference Bureau prints after them is annotation rather than statute, and is not reproduced.
NOTE: 2005 Wis. Act 443 contains explanatory notes. A successful party in a proceeding under this section is entitled to recover the guardian ad litem fees attributable to the party as part of the cost of maintaining an action under sub. (5) (b) 1. b., insuring that the full cost of enforcing physical placement rights falls on the interfering parent, not on the aggrieved parent. Under s. 767.045 (6) [now s. 767.407 (6)], a circuit court may allocate guardian ad litem fees between the parties when it makes a finding that a respondent has intentionally and unreasonably denied physical placement or interfered with the petitioner’s periods of physical placement. When it makes one or both of those findings, the court must then award the petitioner whatever amount it has allocated to the petitioner. Bernier v. Bernier, 2006 WI App 2, 288 Wis. 2d 743, 709 N.W.2d 453, 04-0625. The award “of a reasonable amount for the cost of maintaining an action under this section and for attorney fees” under sub. (5) (b) is mandatory. Sub. (5) (b) does not require that documentation of attorney fees must be received into the evidentiary record of a hearing on the merits of a petition filed under that section in order for a court to make an award of attorney fees. Other cases establish that it is common practice for parties to litigate the amount of attorney fees in proceedings that follow a court’s determination of the substantive issues. Borreson v. Yunto, 2006 WI App 63, 292 Wis. 2d 231, 713 N.W.2d 656, 05-0190. A parent cannot delegate physical placement rights to another in the parent’s absence. Thus a father could not seek to enforce his physical placement with his son by transferring that placement to his current spouse. Lubinski v. Lubinski, 2008 WI App 151, 314 Wis. 2d 395, 761 N.W.2d 676, 07-1701. Wisconsin’s Custody, Placement, and Paternity Reform Legislation.
Amendment History
Wisconsin prints each section’s legislative history as a single “History” line naming every act that created or amended it, and every renumbering. It is reproduced verbatim below.
History: 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 61, 109; 2005 a. 443 s. 100; Stats. 2005 s. 767.471.
Plain-English Summary
A placement order that is ignored is worth nothing, and this section is the enforcement route. A parent awarded periods of physical placement may move where they have had one or more periods denied by the other parent, or substantially interfered with, or where they have incurred a financial loss or expense because the other parent intentionally failed to exercise placement.
The motion must allege the facts the section lists and request a remedy or combination of remedies. Two provisions make it accessible: a court must accept any legible motion for an order under this section, and the motion is filed under the principal action in which placement was awarded. It counts as a motion for remedial sanction for contempt purposes. It is served personally on the responding party.
The hearing. The court must hold it no later than 30 days after the motion has been served, unless the parties agree to extend the time or the court extends it on motion. If the court finds the responding party intentionally and unreasonably denied or interfered with placement, the remedies in the section follow; if it finds the moving party suffered financial loss or expense, the corresponding remedies follow. The court may not use this section to modify custody or placement except as the two narrow provisions allow.
Teeth. Where an injunction is issued the court must, on request, order the sheriff to help execute or serve it; within 24 hours of a request the clerk sends a copy to the sheriff or other appropriate agency, which makes it available to other law enforcement agencies. Intentionally violating such an injunction is a Class I felony.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I do if my ex denies my placement time in Wisconsin?
File a motion under this section. You may do so if you have had one or more periods of placement denied or substantially interfered with, or if you incurred a financial loss or expense because the other parent intentionally failed to exercise placement.
How quickly is the hearing held?
No later than 30 days after the motion has been served, unless the time is extended by mutual agreement or on the court's ruling.
Do I need a lawyer to draft the motion?
The section says a court shall accept any legible motion for an order under it, which is deliberately a low bar.
What happens if the injunction is violated?
Whoever intentionally violates an injunction issued under this section is guilty of a Class I felony.
Can this motion change custody?
Generally no. The court may not modify an order of legal custody or physical placement under this section except as the two narrow provisions it names allow.