Wisconsin Department of Children and Families

Protecting Children, Strengthening Families, Building Communities

Disclaimer

 

 

Department of Children and Families’ public benefit programs will continue during the partial federal government shutdown. Read the full announcement here.

Setting Child Support Payment Amounts

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Notice: The administrative code Chapter DCF 150 Child Support Percentage of Income Standard was amended effective July 1, 2018. BCS is in the process of updating information on this site to conform to those changes.

The Percentage of Income Standard provides guidelines to Wisconsin courts for setting payment amounts for child support and medical support. These guidelines are based on the belief that both parents are responsible for supporting their children, whether they live together or not.

The child support guidelines are based on:

  • the parent's income
  • the time a child spends with each parent
  • whether a parent is supporting other children

 

Percentage of Income Guidelines

Each of the percentages below are applied to the parent's income for child support:

  • 17% of income for 1 child
  • 25% of income for 2 children
  • 29% of income for 3 children
  • 31% of income for 4 children
  • 34% of income for 5 or more children

Example:

Monthly Income 1 child (17%) 2 children (25%) 3 children (29%) 4 children (31%) 5 children (34%)
$1,500 $255 $375 $435 $465 $510
$2,000 $340 $500 $580 $620 $680
$2,500 $425 $625 $725 $775 $850
$3,000 $510 $750 $870 $930 $1,020
$3,500 $595 $875 $1,015 $1,085 $1,190
$4,000 $680 $1,000 $1,160 $1,240 $1,360
More examples using the basic guidelines

Guidelines for Special Circumstances

The court may use different guidelines for the special case types listed below: