A presumption that equalizing physical placement to the highest degree is in the child's best interest and child support changes, including prohibiting basing support on income over $150,000 per year, deducting the amount of health insurance premiums from the support amount, prohibiting increasing support above the standard amount, prohibiting orders that set minimum future support amounts, and requiring a support revision if there has been a substantial change in circumstances. (FE)

Child support Under current law, in divorces, paternity actions, and other actions affecting the family in which there are minor children the court is required to order either or both parents to pay an amount that is reasonable or necessary to fulfill a duty to support a child. The court must generally determine child support payments by using the percentage standard set out in the Wisconsin Administrative Code (code) and established by the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The percentage standard is a percentage of the child support payer's monthly income available for support. The percentage that the child support payer must pay varies with the number of children to be supported. Under the percentage standard, a payer must pay 17 percent of his or her monthly income available for support for one child, 25 percent for two children, 29 percent for three children, 31 percent for four children, and 34 percent for five or more children. Generally, the parent who has physical placement with a child for less time is ordered to pay child support to the other parent on the basis of the percentage standard.

In addition to the percentage standard, the code provides special methods that the court may, but is not required to, use for calculating child support in special situations, including for high-income payers. For high-income payers, child support may be determined by multiplying annual income available for support that is less than $84,000 by the usual percentages of the percentage standard, income between $84,000 and $150,000 by a different schedule of percentages that are about 80 percent of the usual percentages, and income above $150,000 by another schedule of percentages that are about 60 percent of the usual percentages. For example, for a payer with annual income available for support above $150,000, child support for one child may be determined by multiplying the payer's monthly income under $7,000 by 17 percent, multiplying the additional monthly income between $7,000 and $12,500 by 14 percent, multiplying the additional monthly income over $12,500 by 10 percent, and adding together the amounts obtained.

The code provides that the court must determine a parent's monthly income that is available for child support by dividing by 12 the sum of the parent's gross annual income, or gross annual income modified for business expenses, the parent's annual imputed income based on earning capacity, and the parent's annual income imputed from assets. Under the code, the court may impute income to a payer if the court determines that the payer's income is less than his or her earning capacity or if the payer has unproductive assets or has diverted income into assets to avoid paying child support. For imputing income based on earning capacity, the court assesses the parent's education, training, previous work experience and income level, and the availability of work in or near the parent's community. Income imputation for unproductive assets involves multiplying the net value of the parent's assets by the current six-month treasury bill rate or another reasonable rate.

Under the statutes, a court is authorized, upon a party's request, to modify the amount of child support that would be ordered by using the percentage standard if the court finds that use of the percentage standard is unfair to the child or either of the parties. In making this finding, the court must consider a number of factors, such as the earning capacity of each parent, the desirability that the custodian remain in the home as a full-time parent, and extraordinary travel expenses incurred in exercising physical placement rights.

This bill makes a few modifications to the way in which child support is determined. The bill provides that child support may be based only on a parent's actual income or imputed income based on earning capacity, as determined by the court. The bill provides that child support may not be based on any of a parent's assets and that it may not be based on any portion of a parent's annual gross income that exceeds $150,000, annually adjusted in accordance with the consumer price index. The bill conforms the statutory provision that authorizes DCF to promulgate rules establishing the percentage standard with these changes.

Under current law, in addition to ordering child support for a child, the court is required to assign responsibility for payment of the child's health care expenses and may require a parent to initiate or continue health insurance coverage for the child. Under the bill, after determining a parent's child support payments, the court must deduct from that amount any amount the parent currently pays, or is ordered to pay, for health insurance premiums for the child for whom support is determined.

Under the bill, a court still may, upon a party's request, modify the amount of child support determined if the court finds that the amount is unfair to the child or either of the parties after considering the factors under current law. However, the court may modify the amount of child support it has determined in the manner provided in the statutes only by reducing that amount. The requirement that a court may only reduce the amount of support that it has determined in the manner provided in the statutes also applies to temporary support orders and to revisions of support orders.

Under current law, the court may revise the amount of child support under an existing order only if the court finds that there has been a substantial change in circumstances. The bill does not change this requirement; however, the bill also provides that, if the court does find that there has been a substantial change in circumstances, the court must revise the amount of child support under an existing order. In addition, the bill provides that, in an action to revise the amount of child or family support under an existing order, if the amount under the existing order exceeds by 10 percent or more the amount that would have been ordered using the new requirements, the court must find a substantial change in circumstances that requires the court to revise the existing child support order.

The bill makes a few other changes relating to support. Under current law, family support is an order that combines child support and maintenance (formerly called alimony) into a single support amount. The bill provides that a family support order may not include a child support amount that exceeds the amount of child support that would be determined otherwise in the manner provided in the statutes.

The bill prohibits a court from including a provision in a support order that sets a minimum amount of child support that may be ordered at a future time if the support order is revised. The bill also provides that, in an action to revise an order with respect to the amount of child support, regardless of when the order was granted, if it includes a provision that sets a minimum amount of support that may be ordered at a future time, that provision is void and may not be given effect.