Wisconsin Child Support Guidelines: Percentages and Adjustments

Wisconsin child support guidelines set the paying parent’s obligation as a percentage of gross income, starting at 17% for one child and rising to 34% for five or more. The rules live in Chapter DCF 150 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code and cover how income is defined, how shared placement changes the math, and when a court can depart from the standard formula.1Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter DCF 150 – Child Support Standard

The Standard Percentages

When one parent has the child more than 75% of overnights, the other parent pays a straight percentage of gross income under DCF 150.03:2Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150.03 – Support Orders

  • One child: 17%
  • Two children: 25%
  • Three children: 29%
  • Four children: 31%
  • Five or more children: 34%

The arithmetic is literal. A parent earning $5,000 per month with two children owes $1,250 per month. These rates set the baseline for every case before any adjustments come into play.

What Counts as Gross Income

DCF 150.02 defines gross income broadly. Salary and wages are the obvious inputs, but the definition also sweeps in interest and investment income, Social Security disability and retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, and veterans’ disability payments.3Legal Information Institute. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150.02 – Definitions Non-taxable income still counts. The reach is deliberate: it keeps a parent from shifting earnings into non-wage forms to shrink the obligation.

If a parent is unemployed or underemployed without good reason, the court can impute income based on education, work history, health, past earnings, and local job availability. Where even earning capacity is unclear despite genuine effort to pin it down, the court can assign income using 10 to 35 hours per week at the higher of the state or federal minimum wage.4Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. DCF 150 Imputation of Income Guidance Quitting a job or refusing to work does not reduce what you owe.

Both parents file a financial disclosure statement under Wis. Stat. 767.127 showing income, assets, debts, and monthly expenses. Pay stubs, tax returns, and bank statements verify the figures.

Shared Placement Changes the Calculation

When each parent has court-ordered placement of at least 25% of overnights (92 or more per year), the case moves to the shared-placement formula.5Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Shared-Placement Worksheet to Estimate Support Each parent’s gross income is multiplied by the standard percentage for the number of children, then multiplied by 1.5 to reflect the added cost of maintaining two homes. Each result is then multiplied by the share of time the child spends with the other parent. Whoever has the higher figure pays the difference.

In practice, when incomes are similar and placement sits near 50/50, the obligation shrinks substantially and can reach zero. The formula is designed to recognize that both parents are already spending directly on the child.

Split placement is a different situation: two or more children, with each parent having primary placement of at least one. The court runs the standard calculation for each parent as if the other had primary placement of the child in their care, then offsets the two amounts, and the parent who owes more pays the difference.6Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Tools to Estimate Income and Support Amounts

Low-Income and High-Income Adjustments

The standard percentages assume the paying parent has enough income to pay support and still cover basic needs. Appendix C to DCF 150 contains a separate schedule for low earners that reduces the percentages on a sliding scale tied to federal poverty guidelines.7Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150 Appendix C – Child Support Obligation of Low-Income Payers At the lowest income bracket of $998 per month, the rate for one child drops to about 11% rather than 17%. As income climbs toward roughly $2,031 per month, the reduced rates gradually phase up to meet the standard ones. The schedule updates annually.

At the other end, when gross income reaches $7,000 per month ($84,000 per year), the court can apply reduced percentages to income above that threshold.8Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. High-Income Payer Worksheet to Estimate Support The tiers:

  • Up to $7,000/month: standard percentages (17% to 34%)
  • $7,001 to $12,500/month: 14% for one child, up to 27% for five or more
  • Above $12,500/month: 10% for one child, up to 20% for five or more

Whether to apply the high-income formula is up to the court. The logic is that a child’s actual costs do not scale proportionally with very high incomes, so 17% of a $25,000 monthly paycheck would produce an amount beyond what a child realistically needs.

Prior Support Obligations

A parent who already has a legal child support order for children from an earlier relationship is a serial family payer. The calculation subtracts the existing support order from monthly income first, then applies the standard percentage for the new family’s number of children to the reduced figure.9Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150.04(6)(c) – Serial Family Payer Calculation This figure is the “adjusted monthly income available for child support.”10Justia. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150.02 – Definitions The adjustment protects the earlier order while keeping the new one tied to what the parent actually has left to spend.

Medical Support Is a Separate Piece

Every Wisconsin support order must address health care costs. The court can order either parent to carry private insurance for the child, provided the plan’s providers are reasonably accessible (generally within 30 minutes or 30 miles of the child’s home) and the cost does not exceed 10% of the insuring parent’s monthly income.11Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150.05 – Medical Support

The non-insuring parent can be ordered to contribute toward premiums, capped at the lesser of 10% of their income or the actual cost of adding the child to coverage.12Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Medical Support Orders A parent earning below 150% of the federal poverty level cannot be ordered to pay for insurance unless it costs them nothing. Premiums are folded into the monthly support amount, raising or lowering it depending on who provides coverage.

For out-of-pocket costs insurance doesn’t cover, the court orders either a fixed dollar amount or a percentage split. The distinction matters for enforcement: the child support agency can collect a fixed-dollar medical obligation like regular support, but it will not enforce a percentage split. For that, you have to file a motion in family court yourself.12Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Medical Support Orders

When Courts Deviate From the Guidelines

The percentages are a starting point. Either parent can ask for a different amount if the standard calculation would be unfair to the child or to either party. Under Wis. Stat. 767.511, the court weighs factors including:13Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 767.511 – Child Support

  • The child’s own financial resources and each parent’s financial situation
  • Maintenance (spousal support) received by either parent
  • The standard of living the child would have had if the parents had stayed together
  • Child care expenses tied to the custodial parent’s work
  • Extraordinary travel costs for exercising placement across distance
  • Physical, mental, or emotional health needs, including insurance
  • Educational needs
  • Tax consequences for each parent
  • Each parent’s education, training, work experience, and local job availability

When the court deviates, it must state on the record or in writing the amount the standard percentage would have produced, the amount of the deviation, and the reasons for it. That paper trail makes deviations transparent and reviewable on appeal.

Changing an Existing Order

A modification requires a substantial change in circumstances, such as a significant income change for either parent, a change in the child’s needs, or a change in placement.14Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 767.59 – Revision of Child Support Orders Wisconsin builds in a shortcut: once 33 months have passed since the last order or revision, that passage of time alone creates a rebuttable presumption of changed circumstances. The court will hear the case without requiring you to prove changed circumstances independently, though it does not mean the amount will automatically shift. Every three years, the child support agency mails both parents a reminder of this review right.15Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Guide to Changing and Ending Child Support

If you need a modification before 33 months, you can still file, but you carry the burden of proving the change. A parent who begins receiving public benefits like W-2 or SSI also triggers a presumption of changed circumstances regardless of timing.

When Child Support Ends

Current support ends when the child turns 18.13Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 767.511 – Child Support If the child is still in high school or pursuing a GED at that point, support continues until graduation or age 19, whichever comes first.16Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. When Child Support Ends The order automatically terminates when the youngest child reaches 18 unless a parent notifies the agency that the high school or GED exception applies. If a child drops out before 18, the order runs until the 18th birthday unless documentation shows re-enrollment. Any past-due balance and interest remain enforceable after current support stops.