Support payments

Payment Timeline

Income withholding

New income withholdings

It may take up to 30 days for support payments to start coming from employers. Here's how it works:

• The child support agency sends a notice to the employer to withhold the support. This notice is usually mailed within 2-business days of a new court order or the reported change in employment.
  
• The notice tells employers that they must start withholding support in the first pay period after getting the withholding notice. Most employers have 2-week payroll cycles.
  
• After the payment is withheld from the paycheck, the employer must send the payment to the Wisconsin Support Collection Trust Fund within 5-business days from the paycheck date.
  
• Mailing time may take 1 to 3 days.  The payment is processed on the same day that it is received at the Trust Fund. The payment will be posted to the child support KIDS system overnight, and it will be seen on the Child Support Online Services website by 7:00 the next morning.
  
• After the payment is posted in KIDS, it takes another 2-business days before the payment is posted on the debit card account or in the payee's direct deposit account.

After first income withholding

Once income withholding is established, payments should start coming in according to the employer's payroll cycle. Almost all employers issue paychecks either weekly, every 2 weeks, or monthly. Keep in mind that the employer has up to 5-business days to mail the payment so support payments will not always be posted on the same day of the week.

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