The laws surrounding child support can be confusing and difficult. Child support cases can involve a wide range of disputes and issues. These can include:
- Disputes over payment amounts and schedules
- Issues with collecting child support payments
- Late or missed child support payments
- Using child support payments for non-authorized uses (not for the child)
- Withholding visitation if child support is not paid
- Changes that might affect child support payments, such as the birth of another child, remarrying, relocating to another place, and a loss or gain of employment
The court uses the following standard in considering any child support issue: what is in the child’s best interests?
Wisconsin Family Law: Who Needs to Pay Child Support?
In most child support arrangements, one parent will make regular child support payments to the other. Usually, it is the “custodial parent” that collects the payments and the “non-custodial parent” that is required to provide the support payments.
The custodial parent is the parent that the child stays with for the majority of the time; the non-custodial parent is the other parent. Child support is paid this way because the custodial parent usually has more financial responsibilities and expenses for the child than the non-custodial parent.
If the parents have a shared custody arrangement, then the amount of time the child spends with each parent is taken into account when calculating the amount that a parent must pay toward the child’s upbringing. Child support obligations do not disappear just because you share custody.
How Much Child Support Will I Have to Pay?
The Wisconsin Child Support Program can help you understand what you may owe or are owed concerning child support. Child support payments can be calculated based on various factors, including:
- The number of children involved in the support payments
- Whether the paying parent has the ability to pay or not
- Whether the child or children have any special needs (medical, academic, and sometimes extra-curricular activities may be considered)
- Geographic location of the parties, cost of living, and other demographic information
- History of payments between the parents
The amount of child support ordered by the court will depend on the time you have with your child(ren). If you have less than 25% of the time with your child(ren) (based on the number of overnights over a year), then your child support will be based on the following percentages of your gross income:
- 17% for one child
- 25% for 2 children
- 29% for 3 children
- 31% for 4 children
- 34% for 5 or more children
The courts are fair: if the child support payer spends 3 days a week with the child, they will not have to pay full child support. It will be adjusted to account for the fact that the payer also has expenses caring for the child. For example, if the mother has the child all week and the father has visitation, the child support amount might be $1000 a month. If the mother has the child for 4 days and the father has them for 3 days, the child support amount will be reduced to $571.00 – four-sevenths of $1000.
Wisconsin Family Law: How Can I Petition for Child Support?
Child support is most often awarded as part of the divorce process. If that is not your case, you can apply for child support either through the courts if you are also determining custody, or through your local child support office. You will be required to fill out forms that will ask you to provide the other parent’s name, social security number, date of birth, phone number, address, job information, and other information.
Wisconsin Family Law: What If I Do Not Pay Child Support?
If you refuse to pay child support, the Wisconsin Child Support Services Program has several ways it can collect the payments. It can first request that your employer take the money directly from your paycheck (also known as “wage garnishment”).
Money can also be taken from:
- Your bank accounts
- Your tax refund
- Any settlement you receive
- Your pension
The Child Support Program can also ask the court to place a lien on your property. The court might also find you in contempt, and you can be fined or jailed.
Wisconsin Family Law: How Does Wage Garnishment Work?
Wage garnishment may be ordered in child support cases where you have continually missed their payments. The way it works is that your employer will set aside a portion of your paycheck, which will be used directly for child support payments.
Your employer can either pay the amount directly to the court or in some cases, they can transfer the funds to a third party that will handle and process the payments.
Wisconsin Family Law: What Can the Other Parent Do If I Do Not Pay Support?
When a noncustodial parent fails to pay child support, the custodial parent may not withhold visitation to force the noncustodial parent to pay. However, visitation is unrelated to child support. If you are owed visitation, you can go to court and ask that the court make the other parent stick to the visitation agreement.
But remember, refusing to pay child support is quite different than not being able to afford to pay child support. If you refuse to pay child support, it can reflect poorly on you, and the custodial parent can petition the court to change the custody or visitation arrangements. This is done not directly for lack of payment but rather for the refusal to pay.
The court would not punish a parent who is unable to afford it due to circumstances, but if there is willful intent to withhold payment, then it is reasonable for the court to take this bad intent as a sign that shared custody or visitation is not in the best interest of the child.
Wisconsin Family Law: How Can I Stop Paying Child Support?
Ending child support is something that must be done legally with the assistance of the court. Trying to do this on your own can have serious consequences for you.
For Wisconsin residents, child support ends when the child turns 18 or 19 if the child is still in high school.
If the child is still a minor, both parents can agree to stop child support, but you still have to go to court to have the new agreement approved. Since the child technically owns the child support, not the custodial parent, courts have sometimes held that the custodial parent cannot simply agree to stop child support. One way that satisfies the court is if you give the custodial parent cash or property in exchange for ending child support.
Another common reason that child support can be stopped is if you believe you are not the child’s biological father. You have the right to go to court and demand a paternity test. There is a “presumption of paternity” for couples that are legally married, even if they are separated for a long period. If the mother gives birth to a child,, there is a presumption that the spouse is the father. If the couple is legally separated (there is an official court order of separation), then there is no presumption of paternity.
Where Can I Find the Right Family Lawyer in Wisconsin?
Child support cases can get complicated and vicious, with the parents often getting involved in serious legal disputes. Thus, you should talk to a Wisconsin child support lawyer about your case as soon as possible. They can represent you in court and act as your advocate in any negotiations with the other parent.
