How is child support calculated in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin child support is generally calculated using the percentage standards established by the Department of Children and Families, together with the parties’ incomes and the type of placement arrangement. The calculation is not always simply a flat percentage of one parent’s gross income. Generally though, if a parent has less than 25% of yearly overnights, they will pay monthly child support in the amount of:

(a) 17% for one child;

(b) 25% for 2 children;

(c) 29% for 3 children;

(d) 31% for 4 children; and

(e) 34% for 5 or more children.

That means 17%-34% of each paycheck would go towards child support. If you are unemployed or self-employed, the court may impute your income (estimate what it should be) and go off of that number. There is also a way to calculate if you are a “high earner,” meaning you earn $7000/month or more.

Different formulas may apply depending on whether one parent has primary placement (above), the parents share placement, there is a split-placement arrangement involving multiple children, or a parent has support obligations to more than one family. Shared-placement calculations account for each parent’s income and the percentage of overnights or equivalent care allocated to each parent.

The court may also address health-insurance obligations, uninsured medical expenses, child-care costs, and other child-related expenses. Certain variable or extraordinary expenses may be allocated separately from the basic support amount.

The statutory percentage standard is presumptively appropriate, but a court may deviate when applying the standard would be unfair to the child or a party after considering the statutory deviation factors.

Primary Wisconsin authorities: Wis. Stat. §§ 767.511 and 49.22(9); Wis. Admin. Code ch. DCF 150.