Shared Physical
Placement
Child support may be reduced from guideline
percentages if each parent shares physical placement. Shared physical placement
is presumed when the child support payer has the child in their care no less
than 30% of the time or 110 nights per year. If the payer cares for the child
between 30-40% of the time, his/her child support obligation may be reduced from
100% of the guideline percentage to 67% of the guideline support figure. If the
payer cares for the child between 40 and 60% of the time, his/her child support
may be reduced from 67% of the guideline child support figure to $0.
Split
Physical Placement
On rare occasions a Court may award physical
placement of some children to the mother and some children to the father. This
is called split physical placement. In cases where the children are "split"
between the parents, child support is determined by applying the child support
guidelines to each parent's income based on the number of children in the other
parent's care. The child support obligations are then offset by subtracting the
smaller obligation from the larger obligation. (DWD40.04(3))
Second Families
More and more often in today's society, parents
are starting second and even third families. In such serial family situations
child support may be reduced for the families that are started later in time.
As a general rule, the first family in time receives guideline child support.
The second family in time receives guideline child support after deducting the
first child support obligation from the payer's income. A third family in time
would receive child support based on guideline percentages only after the first
and second child support obligations are deducted from the payer's gross income.
This formula does not not consider additional children that the payer may be
supporting in a current family.
Trust
Accounts For Children
Under Wisconsin Statutes, the Court also has the discretion to
require a portion of any child support amount paid set aside in a separate fund
or trust account for support, education or the welfare of the children. In
practice, this is rarely put into effect unless the party paying child support
has a significant income (usually in excess of $6000 gross per month or more).
Child Support & Denial of Access Unrelated
It is also important to recognize that issues of child support
and interference with visitation or physical placement are not related. In
short, one parent may not refuse the other parent access to the children because
child support is not paid and vice versa.
Termination of Support
An obligation to pay child support terminates at the age of 18
or at the age of 19 if the child is still attending classes in pursuit of a high
school diploma or a GED. In the event a delinquency in child support exists,
the party that is required to pay child support will also be required to pay
interest on the unpaid amount at a rate of 1% per month. This is mandatory
interest under the statute and a court has no discretion to terminate the
interest payment.
College Tuition
Although a Court cannot extend child support beyond the age of
nineteen, parents may agree to an extension of child support or payment of
college tuition as part of the divorce, legal separation or annulment
proceeding. Such agreements become enforceable between the parties and
non-compliance may be enforced through contempt proceedings.
