Child support in Wisconsin is meant to cover a child’s basic support costs: food, shelter, clothing, transportation, personal care, and incidental recreation. What child support covers in Wisconsin does not automatically include health care, which the court assigns separately, or, in shared placement, variable costs such as child care, tuition, and special needs.
Wisconsin’s child support guideline, in Wis. Admin. Code ch. DCF 150, defines basic support costs as food, shelter, clothing, transportation, personal care, and incidental recreational costs. That list is what child support covers in Wisconsin under a standard order. The guideline is designed so a child’s standard of living is not hurt because the parents live apart, and it expects the parent with placement to share income directly with the child. See our Wisconsin child support law guide.
Health care is handled in addition to support. The court must specifically assign responsibility for the child’s health care expenses and how they are paid, considering current coverage, insurance available to each parent, and its cost. A parent can be ordered to start or keep insurance for the child and must give the other parent an insurance card.
When parents share placement, the court must also divide the child’s variable costs in proportion to each parent’s placement time, based on a detailed list from the parents. The court system’s divorce guide describes variable costs as reasonable expenses above basic support, such as child care, tuition, special needs, and activities with substantial cost. See child support with 50/50 custody in Wisconsin.
Outside shared placement, the court can add costs such as child care on top of guideline support only by deviating from the guideline and explaining why. The guideline presumes the child’s basic needs are being met.
Standard child support does not extend through college, so read about college expenses and child support in Wisconsin separately. Keep receipts for child care, activities, and medical bills, and raise those costs before the order is entered.
Renier Hotopp Law Offices can explain what child support covers in Wisconsin for your family and ask the court to address health care and variable costs in the order. See our Wisconsin family law attorney services or learn more about the firm.
