Wisconsin child support laws use a percentage-of-income formula: the paying parent owes a set share of gross income based on how many children the order covers, starting at 17% for one child and rising to 34% for five or more. A court can adjust that amount for shared placement, each parent’s finances, and the child’s needs. Orders are enforced through automatic wage withholding, license suspension, tax refund intercepts, and interest on anything unpaid.
How the Amount Is Calculated
The baseline percentages come from the Department of Children and Families under Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150.1Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Wisconsin’s Percentage of Income Standard They apply to the paying parent’s gross income:
- One child: 17%
- Two children: 25%
- Three children: 29%
- Four children: 31%
- Five or more children: 34%
What Gross Income Includes
Gross income is broader than take-home pay. It covers salary, bonuses, commissions, interest and investment earnings, Social Security disability and retirement benefits, unemployment, income-replacement workers’ compensation, veterans’ disability compensation, military housing and subsistence allowances, and undistributed income from a business the parent controls. It does not include child support received for other children, public assistance, food stamps, SSI, or foster care payments.2Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150
If a court finds a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed to avoid paying, it can impute income based on earning capacity, considering education, training, work history, and local job availability.3Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 767.511 – Child Support
Shared Placement
When each parent has the child at least 25% of the time (92 or more overnights per year), the court may apply a shared-placement formula instead of the flat percentage.4Wisconsin DCF. Shared-Placement Worksheet to Estimate Support The formula weighs both incomes and the share of overnights in each household. The higher-earning parent still pays, but the amount is lower than under sole placement because both households carry daily costs.
Fluctuating Income
For parents with uneven earnings, especially the self-employed, a court may average several years of income or issue a percentage-expressed order that ties payments directly to a share of actual earnings each pay period. A percentage-expressed order adjusts automatically as income rises or falls.5Wisconsin State Legislature. Use of Percentage-Expressed Child Support Orders in Wisconsin
When a Court Will Deviate
The percentage standard is the default, not a mandate. Either parent can ask for a different amount if the standard would be unfair, and under Wisconsin Statutes Section 767.511(1m) the court weighs factors including each parent’s financial resources and earning capacity, the child’s resources and physical, mental, and educational needs, maintenance paid or received, other legal support obligations, childcare costs tied to work, extraordinary travel for placement, tax consequences, and the child’s pre-separation standard of living if the parents were married.6Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 767.511 – Child Support The court must find by the greater weight of the evidence that applying the standard would be unfair before it deviates. If you think the straight percentage doesn’t fit, bring documentation of these factors into the first hearing.
Getting an Order Established
A case starts when one parent files a petition in the circuit court of the county where the child lives. It can run inside a divorce or separation, or as a standalone action between unmarried parents. If the custodial parent receives public assistance, the local Child Support Agency can open the case on the state’s behalf.
Paternity has to be settled before a court can order support for an unmarried father. Wisconsin recognizes two main routes: a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, signed and notarized by both parents (often at the hospital after birth), or genetic testing. When a child support agency orders genetic testing through its administrative subpoena power and the results show a 99% or greater statistical probability of parentage, paternity becomes conclusive unless a parent files a timely objection.7Wisconsin State Legislature. Methods for Establishing Paternity in Wisconsin
Both parents file financial disclosure statements covering income, assets, and expenses, and the court reviews those alongside employment records and childcare costs. If the parents agree, the court can approve a stipulated order without a contested hearing. Where they don’t agree, mediation may be required before a judge rules. Payments then run through the Wisconsin Support Collections Trust Fund, which handles processing and record-keeping.8Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 25.68 – Support Collections Trust Fund
Medical Support Is Part of Every Order
Every Wisconsin child support order must address health care. The court assigns responsibility for the child’s medical expenses and can order one or both parents to carry the child on a private health plan if the plan is accessible and reasonably priced. Under the administrative code, a plan is reasonable if its cost is 10% or less of the insuring parent’s monthly income available for child support and it covers hospitalization and medical care without large deductibles or copayments.9Cornell Law School. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 150.05 – Medical Support
Changing an Order
Child support orders are not fixed for life. Under Section 767.59, either parent can petition for modification after a substantial change in circumstances: a meaningful income shift, a change in the child’s needs, or a change in custody or placement.10Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 767.59
For cases in the Title IV-D child support program, federal rules require the state to review the order at least every 36 months, or sooner on request, and to notify both parents of that right at least once every three years.11eCFR. 45 CFR 303.8 – Review and Adjustment of Child Support Orders Outside IV-D, you can file a modification motion anytime, but you have to show the court that something has genuinely changed.
File quickly if your income drops. Wisconsin courts will not reduce support retroactively to a date before the modification request was filed. Every month you wait, the original amount keeps accruing, and interest runs on anything you don’t pay.
What Happens if a Parent Falls Behind
The Department of Children and Families, through the Bureau of Child Support, can pursue collection without the custodial parent doing most of the legwork.
Income Withholding
Most support is collected through automatic wage withholding: the employer deducts the payment and sends it to the state.12Administration for Children & Families. Processing an Income Withholding Order or Notice Federal law caps the share of disposable earnings that can be withheld at 50% if the paying parent supports another spouse or child, or 60% otherwise, with an extra 5% available when payments are 12 or more weeks overdue.13U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act Self-employed parents or those with irregular income may be ordered to make direct deposits into the Support Collections Trust Fund.
Tax Refund Intercepts
Both federal and state tax refunds can be intercepted to pay arrears. Federal intercepts run through the Treasury Offset Program, which requires at least $25 in past-due support before referral, though states generally refer cases with substantially higher balances.14eCFR. 45 CFR Part 31 – Tax Refund Offset
License Suspension
Under Section 49.857, the state can deny, suspend, or restrict driver’s licenses, professional and occupational licenses, and recreational permits for nonpayment. The child support agency can start license suspension once arrears equal or exceed 300% of the monthly amount due.15Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 152.09 Losing a professional license over support debt directly reduces earning capacity, which is why it is one of the state’s more effective tools.
Passport Denial
If you owe more than $2,500 in past-due support, the state can certify your case to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, which forwards it to the State Department. You cannot get a new passport, and an existing one can be revoked or restricted, until the arrears are paid in full.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 652 – Duties of Secretary
Liens, Seizure, and Contempt
The state can place liens on real and personal property. Real property seizure requires a lien over $5,000; personal property seizure requires the parent’s equity (less expected fees) to exceed $500.15Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code DCF 152.09 When nothing else works, a court can hold the parent in contempt under Chapter 785. A remedial contempt finding can bring imprisonment for up to six months or until the parent complies, whichever is shorter.17Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 785 – Contempt of Court Courts generally reserve contempt for parents who can pay and simply won’t.
Interest on Arrears
Wisconsin charges 0.5% per month, or 6% annually, on past-due child support. Interest starts once the unpaid balance equals or exceeds one month’s payment and compounds from there.18Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Child Support Enforcement Collection Methods Small arrears grow quickly when ignored.
Boundaries Worth Knowing
Bankruptcy Doesn’t Erase Support
Child support is a domestic support obligation under federal law, and 11 U.S.C. ยง 523(a)(5) excepts it from discharge in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge The bankruptcy automatic stay has broad exceptions for support, so the state can keep withholding income, intercepting refunds, suspending licenses, and pursuing contempt during an active case.
Across State Lines
When parents live in different states, Wisconsin applies the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act under Chapter 769.20Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 769 – Uniform Interstate Family Support Act Only one state has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over an order at a time, usually the issuing state as long as a parent or the child still lives there. Another state can modify the order only when nobody still lives in the issuing state or when both parents consent in writing. Wisconsin employers must honor income-withholding orders from other states, so relocating does not stop wage garnishment.
Tax Treatment
Child support is tax-neutral. The paying parent cannot deduct it, and the receiving parent does not report it as income. The real tax question is who claims the child as a dependent. The custodial parent generally claims the child and credits like the Child Tax Credit, but can release that claim to the other parent using IRS Form 8332, and some Wisconsin orders require it.21Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit The IRS follows Form 8332, not the state court order, so get the form filed if the order calls for it.
When the Obligation Ends
Current support in Wisconsin runs until the child turns 18, or until age 19 if the child is still pursuing a high school diploma or GED equivalent under Section 767.511(4).22Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. When Child Support Ends The child support agency notifies both parents 90 days before the youngest child’s 18th birthday, and current support ends at 18 unless a parent provides documentation that the child is still enrolled.6Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 767.511 – Child Support Support can also end earlier if the child is legally emancipated through marriage or military service. Wisconsin has no general emancipation statute beyond those two paths, so a minor who moves out or starts earning on their own does not automatically end the obligation.
Arrears survive the end of current support. Interest keeps accruing at 6% annually, and all the same enforcement tools remain available. Before you consider the case closed, confirm with the child support agency that nothing is still owed.