Koeller v. Koeller

In Koeller v. Koeller, 195 Wis. 2d 660, 536 N.W.2d 216 (Ct. App. 1995), the circuit court had granted the motion of the mother, who had primary placement and was suffering from terminal cancer, to award placement to her sister in the event of the mother's incapacity or death. The mother made the motion because of her own illness and because the children's father had a mental illness. See id. at 661. The Court reversed, holding that the circuit court lacked the power to "order a change of custody that is to take place at some unknown time in the future, upon the occurrence of some stated contingency." Id. at 667.