In Re the Marriage Of: Pam Anita Cook, Petitioner-Respondent v. Roger Paul Cook, Respondent-Appellant-Petitioner

Summary

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed a published court of appeals decision upholding a divorce judgment that divided the husband's military retired pay as marital property and also counted his retained share of it as gross income for calculating child support. The court held that military retired pay must be treated as divisible property unless excluded by law, and that the Kronforst anti-'double-counting' rule does not apply in the child-support context because the child receives nothing from the property division, so the pension is counted for the first time as between parent and child. On an issue the court asked the parties to brief, it further held that the court of appeals lacks power to overrule, modify, or withdraw language from its own published decisions; only the supreme court may do so, though the court of appeals may certify an appeal or follow precedent while stating its belief the prior case was wrongly decided.