The state of Wisconsin requires both parents to financially contribute to their children’s lives—and in many cases, this happens through child support.
What is Child Support?
Child support, which both parents are responsible for providing, is a financial contribution to the upbringing of a child or children.
A court can order one or both parents to pay child support. In many cases, one parent’s obligation is deducted from the other parent’s obligation, resulting in one sum that changes hands between the two parents each month.
In most cases, the parent with less than 50 percent of physical custody is the one who makes the child support payment. This is done under the assumption that the parent with the majority of physical placement is the one providing most of the financial support for the child or children.
Wisconsin’s Child Support Requirements
Typically, child support payments are based on the paying parent’s income. Even parents who don’t have jobs are required to pay child support, however, because the state considers all earnings from all sources when calculating support. (You can use our Wisconsin child support calculator to get an idea of how much you’ll have to pay or how much you may receive.)
If the child support based on Wisconsin’s guidelines is unfair (either to the parents or to the children involved), the courts can change it. If the court is going to change the amount of child support ordered in any case, it may consider:
- The child’s best interest
- The parents’ financial resources
- Spousal maintenance in the case
- Each parent’s ability to support themselves
- Whether a parent supports other children
- The child’s standard of living
- The child’s financial resources
- The cost of childcare
- The custody agreement between the parents
- The child’s health, educational needs, and medical needs
- Tax consequences for each parent
- The earning capacity of each parent
Will You Get Child Support? Talk to a Milwaukee Divorce Lawyer Today
For many parents, divorce with kids is challenging—partly because of the child support requirements. If you are getting divorced and need help getting child support, call our Wisconsin divorce lawyers at 414-383-6700. If it’s easier, you can also get in touch with us online.
