Wisconsin child support laws – for fathers, mothers and children – require parents to contribute financially to a child’s upbringing. Once paternity has been established, a man is a child’s legal parent. That means he has obligations to that child, including those revolving around child support, custody and visitation.
Wisconsin Child Support Laws for Fathers
A parent who doesn’t have primary physical placement is typically the one who pays child support to the other parent. (Technically, both parents are responsible for providing child support – it’s just that the court presumes that the parent living with the children already bears most of the expenses.)
If the father is the parent who lives with the children most of the time, he’ll most likely be the one receiving child support from the other parent. However, if the mother is the parent who lives with the children most of the time, she’ll probably be the one who receives child support.
Related: Father’s rights in a Wisconsin divorce
How Do Wisconsin Child Support Laws Work?
In Wisconsin, a father’s rights aren’t any more important than a mother’s rights are – and even more importantly, they’re not more important than a child’s rights are.
Child support is a two-parent responsibility, and the child is the beneficiary. The courts can order one or both parents to pay reasonable child support.
The courts determine how much child support should change hands by gauging each parent’s income and a few other factors (such as which parent has primary physical custody of the child). There are actually several different guidelines judges use to determine how much child support a person has to pay – but the standard guideline typically follows this formula (although yours will likely be at least a little different):
- 17 percent for one child
- 25 percent for two children
- 29 percent for three children
- 31 percent for four children
- 34 percent for five or more children
The above guideline is for parents that don’t fall into one of these categories:
- High-income payers
- Low-income payers
- Serial family parents who support more than one family
- Split-placement parents
- Shared-placement parents in which each parent has the child at least 25 percent of the time
- Shared-placement and split-placement combination parents
Your best bet is to talk to a lawyer about Wisconsin child support laws for fathers if you’re not sure how your case will work out.
Related: Can I get out of paying child support?
Do You Need to Talk to a Lawyer About Wisconsin Child Support Laws for Fathers?
If you’d like to talk to an attorney about how Wisconsin child support laws will affect your case, call us at 414-383-6700 now. We’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you figure out the best path moving forward.
