As gender roles continue becoming more egalitarian and women are now often the primary breadwinner in a family, child support laws have changed to reflect the fact that many families often no longer have the traditional structure of a stay-at-home mother and working father. Rather than giving a mother full custody after a divorce and requiring only the father to pay child support, Wisconsin law now expects both parents to financially support their children and be actively involved in raising them unless there is a good reason to do otherwise. If you are getting divorced and want to learn more about child support laws in Wisconsin, read on.
Primary Placement Requires Higher Payments
Wisconsin follows the Shared Placement formula to determine child support payments. Payments are based on how many children are involved and how much time each parent spends with the children. If one parent has custody more than 75 percent of the time, he or she is considered to be the residential parent and has primary placement. While both parents are responsible for financially providing for their children, the parent with primary placement will necessarily receive larger child support payments as he or she has the children with them most of the time. But even when spouses share placement 50/50, one spouse usually pays the other child support.
Payments Are Calculated According to a Parent’s Gross Income
Child support payments are calculated using a parent’s gross income, including any wages, tips, bonuses, commissions, etc. before taxes are deducted. Child support is also not tax-deductible for the paying parent, and the receiving parent does not have to pay taxes on the payments. Understanding your gross income, net income, tax deductions, and other financial issues is important when negotiating a divorce agreement. For example, the parent paying child support may want to negotiate more assertively for the right to claim the children as dependents on his or her taxes.
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