When a public assistance case is opened it may be referred to the Child Support Agency. If you are living together and paternity has been established for your child, you will need to confirm with the Economic Support division that all parties are listed as household members.

Yes, you must cooperate with the Child Support Unit if you are receiving medical assistance from the State of Wisconsin. Wisconsin law and the court insist that as long as the non-custodial parent does not reside with you then we must enter an order, even if you do not want the Child Support Unit involved. The medical benefits that you are receiving from the State of Wisconsin will be stopped if you fail to cooperate.

It doesn’t matter if the custodial parent is receiving public assistance. If there is an order, we are required to enforce that order so long as it is in effect. The custodial parent, that is no longer receiving public assistance, may fill out a form to stop our services if there are no AFDC or W2 expenses remaining on the case. Please note that the form does not stop the child support, it only stops enforcement. In order for the child support to stop, parties will need to change the court order. You can contact an attorney or file Pro Se (which means do-it-yourself) with the Vernon County Clerk of Courts.

If child support was ordered in your divorce action, your case is a non-IV-D (NIVD) case which means you either represented yourself in your divorce action or you had a private attorney. It also means you never received public assistance for your child(ren). The Wisconsin Support Collections Trust Fund (WI SCTF) will receipt and disburses payments however the Vernon County Department of Human Services, Child Support Unit will not enforce you order(s) unless you apply for our services. See our “How To…” section for information on how to apply.

Often times the custodial parent will learn information about the non-custodial parent before the caseworker will hear the information. Sometimes the locate tools provided to and used by the Child Support Unit can take time to report the new information. Both the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent are court ordered to report all changes in employers, address and phone numbers within 10 days. The custodial parent should report any new information to us to as soon as possible so the information can be processed.

1. By law, you must tell your child support agency within ten (10) days if you lose your job, if your income changes, if you get a new job. These new circumstances will not change your court ordered payment amounts until a court revises your order.
2. Your court order for support continues after a job loss--only a court can change an order.
3. If child support payments were taken out of your paycheck, child support payments will now be withheld from your Unemployment Insurance checks.
4. If your job loss is expected to last longer than 6 to 8 weeks, you can ask to have your court order reviewed for a possible change. THIS IS NOT AUTOMATIC!

Only the court can change the child support obligation through a new a court order. The Child Support Agency will not bring a motion to terminate your support, however you have the ability to bring a motion yourself. For more information on pro se visit Wisconsin Court System at Wisconsin Court System - Court services - For the public - Self-help law center (wicourts.gov).  The Vernon County Department of Human Services Child Support Unit requires medical documentation to support your inability to work. Contact us at (608) 637-5335 to request an Inability to Work form by mail or click here. The form must be completed by your doctor and include supporting documentation. Providing the completed Inability to Work form and documentation completed by your doctor will not end the support obligation however the Child Support Agency will not enforce payments of your obligations. It is very important that you provide updated information regarding your medical condition every 3 months and keep your case worker informed of any disability, worker’s compensation or social security benefits you receive.

You are responsible for making your child support payments. If you discover that your employer has withheld payments but you are not receiving credit to your account be sure to keep copies of your paystubs to prove the child support payments were deducted from your check by your employer. Contact your case worker as they may then take action against the employer for failure to send the payments.

We understand that criminal history both past and present may cause a roadblock in obtaining employment. There are many resources available that may be able to help you.

1. Workforce Connections https://www.workforceconnections.org/vernon.html
2. Job Center https://jobcenterofwisconsin.com/
3. Job Fairs – La Crosse

A child born outside of marriage will not have a legal father unless a paternity acknowledgment form is filled out and filed with the vital statistics office or paternity is established through a court hearing.

It is in the best interest of the child to have paternity established as it creates the legal relationship between a child and his or her father, gives the child inheritance rights, access to future benefits through the father (social security, veterans benefits, etc.), and access to the medical history of the father.

If you receive any public assistance for your child, the State of Wisconsin requires you to cooperate with paternity establishment efforts. Failure to cooperate may result in your benefits being sanctioned.

Our office will explain to both parents the consequences of signing this form. If you wish to have genetic testing done before signing this form, our office can assist in setting up that testing.

There is a separate procedure for obtaining support orders once the form is completed. If you are receiving W2 benefits, your case will automatically be referred for order establishment. If either parent does not wish to sign the Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment for any reason, the department may be able to file a paternity establishment case.

When a child is born to a married woman, the husband's name goes on the birth certificate of the child. If the mother and father are not married, the man's name will not be put on the birth certificate until he becomes the legal father.

He can become the legal father through the filing of the state's Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment form, or through a paternity court action. When a paternity judgment is ordered, the department will notify Wisconsin’s Division of Vital Statistics and the adjudicated father's name will be put on the birth certificate

When a child is born while a mother is married, Wisconsin law considers the husband to be the father, and this is known as marital presumption. If the mother is claiming that her husband is not the father and is naming someone else, the marital presumption must be overcome before another man can be found to be the child’s father.  You must contact an attorney or file Pro Se (which means do-it-yourself) with the Vernon County Clerk of Courts.

Yes, a possible father can apply for services to establish paternity of a non-marital child. If you live in Vernon County, call (608)-637-5335 to schedule an appointment.

Paternity can be established at any time after the birth of the child. In Wisconsin, there are 3 ways to establish paternity:

First, the mother and father can legally agree to the paternity of the father if there is no question as to who the father is and the mother is not married. To accomplish this, the mother and father must sign a special State form called the Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment. Contact the child support agency for assistance if you would like to sign this form.

Second, the child support agency can file a legal action to establish paternity. Both the mother and father are notified of the case and have the opportunity to appear in court. Either party can ask for genetic tests before paternity is decided.

Third, if parents of a child marry after the birth of the child, paternity can be established through the use of the State's Legitimation form. The child support office can provide you with this form.

To request an appointment for paternity establishment services, call 608-637-5335.

The Vernon County Department of Human Services, Child Support Unit cannot assist with custody, placement or visitation issues. You must contact an attorney or file Pro Se (which means do-it-yourself) with the Vernon County Clerk of Courts.

Physical Placement is one of the measures used by the Child Support Unit in a review for modification of support. When the Vernon County Department of Human Services, Child Support Unit reviews a child support order we will default to the most recent order addressing physical placement of the child(ren). If there has been a change in the physical placement of the child(ren) we recommend updating the placement order prior to requesting a review. If order to meet the requirements for a shared placement payer, the paying parent must have the child(ren) in their home at least 25% of the time. Click here for a shared placement calculator. Parents with shared placement will assume the child’s basic support costs in proportion to each’s parent share of placement. Basic support costs refer to the food, shelter, clothing, transportation and personal care of the child(ren). In addition to the basic support costs each parent will be responsible for the variable expenses, which refer to the reasonable costs above basic support costs, such as child care, tuition, a child’s special needs, sports equipment, activity fees, etc. Any costs for uncovered medical or dental expenses are always split equally between the parents.

If you believe that your child(ren) are being neglected or abused, contact the county social services where your child(ren) live. Protective services handle such issues which are separate from child support.

If the parents have never been married, paternity must be established before the court can order child support to be paid. If the parents are married, the child support agency can file a legal action to compel the absent parent to support the family.

If a divorce has already been filed in Vernon County, the child support agency can file a motion within the divorce asking the court to set a support order. If you already have a Vernon County paternity or divorce case with no current support order, the child support agency can file a motion to ask that support be set if the circumstances have changed substantially since the last time the support issue was addressed by the court.

For example, if your ex-spouse was not working the last time the case was in court, no child support may have been ordered. If he or she is now working, we may be able to seek a support order at this time. If the parents were never married, but signed and filed a Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgement form, the child support agency can file an action to compel the absent parent to support the child.

If you receive public assistance such as TANF benefits including W-2, Care Taker Supplement or Child Care assistance, we are required to get a court order for child support to offset the cost to the taxpayers for the public assistance. If you are only receiving medical assistance such as Badgercare, an order for the child support to be held open may be entered.  If you are concerned that the other parent may cause harm to you or the child, you should contact the Economic Support division in your county and discuss filing a Good Cause Claim. If Good Cause is granted the Child Support Unit would not pursue establishment of an order. Please contact the Child Support Unit to find out more details on your case and whether you would be eligible to have the child support ended.

You must provide the Child Support Unit with a copy of the order terminating your parental rights. Based upon the order terminating your parental rights, we will seek to terminate your current support order. Please note that you are still responsible for any arrears, costs and interest on your case that accrued prior to your parental rights being terminated. You will continue to receive billing notices until all debts are paid in full.

Wisconsin law requires you to pay child support until your child turns eighteen and graduates from high school, or, until your child turns nineteen, whichever is later. If your child is eighteen and has graduated from high school, you should provide proof of graduation to the child support agency.

All parents have a duty and obligation to support their child(ren) no matter who or where the child(ren) are residing. The law states that both parents are individually liable for support a child placed in substitute care.

Child support and placement/visitation of the child(ren) are separate issues. Wisconsin law has drawn a definite line between the two issues to prevent the children from being punished due to disagreeing parents. The Child Support Unit does not have the authority to address custody, placement and visitation issues. You are required to pay support as court ordered to be in compliance with the order. If you are being denied your placement rights, you must contact your local family court commissioner. You may be referred to mediation.

Any payments made directly to the custodial parent are considered a cash gift. In order for you to receive credit for the payments you make it must be paid through the Wisconsin Support Collections Trust Fund (WI SCTF). Income withholding is mandatory in the State of Wisconsin, it is convenient to both parents and it reduces the possibility of late payments and arrearages.

Self-employed paying parents do not participate in income withholding and are required to send their payments to the WI SCTF to receive proper credit.

Any participants inquiring about payments received and disbursed by the Wisconsin Support Collections Trust Fund (WI SCTF) can contact the WISCTF via phone 1-800-991-5530 or you can sign up for the child support online services at https://csos.wisconsin.gov/login .

The order for child support will continue until the Court suspends the obligation and modifies the placement order. You may contact an attorney or file Pro Se (which means do-it-yourself) with the Vernon County Clerk of Courts. Please be sure to provide a copy of any court orders to the Child Support Unit. 

Money that a parent spends on food, housing, utilities, etc. are all expenses that are shared with the children. If you are concerned that your child(ren) are not being adequately clothed, fed and housed, you may contact the county social services agency where your child(ren) live. Neither the State of Wisconsin nor the federal government have jurisdiction over how child support payments are spent!

If a payer has more than one family to support or more than one support-related obligation, the payments will be pro-rated across the payers’ cases. Payments are distributed first to the families with minor children for current support and then additional amounts are distributed to child support arrears or other support-related debts. Therefore payees may notice a difference in the amount they receive and the timing of these payments.

The Vernon County Department of Human Services, Child Support Unit does not handle issues in regards to the uninsured medical expenses that the other parent will not pay. In order to address the issue, you will need to file a motion to go before the Judge or Family Court Commissioner. 

Copies of court orders can be obtained from the Clerk of Courts Office in the county where the order was established. If you had an order in another state you will need to contact the state where the orders were established. You may contact an attorney or file Pro Se (which means do-it-yourself) with the Vernon County Clerk of Courts. 

Under state and federal law, once arrears have been certified for tax intercept, they remain certified and refunds will be intercepted until the outstanding amounts are paid in full, even if payments are being made.

You will need to file an “injured spouse” claim at the time you file your tax return. Any and all issues relating to the injured spouse claim need to be handled through the IRS. Click here for more information.

You can get tax intercept collection information by calling the KIDS Information Line 800-991-5530. You may also visit: WI SCTF

Tax intercept fee - the parent receiving a tax refund intercept must pay 10% of any collection of $10 or more, but not more than $25. It is taken out of the intercepted refund.

You will receive a notice from the IRS or Department of Revenue that your tax refund has been intercepted. The State of Wisconsin Child Support system usually receives the intercepted tax monies 4-6 weeks after you receive the notice.

A lien is automatically created when you have an arrears balance of $500.00 or more. To find out more information regarding child support liens, click here.  

The Child Support Unit has many steps to enforcing a court order and we can’t just have the Sheriff’s Department arrest them without due process and obtaining a court order. Before a non-custodial parent can be arrested they must either be found in contempt of court or unable to be located in order to serve them. We will begin our enforcement actions with two separate warning letters. If we do not get any response from the enforcement letters the case will be evaluated for further enforcement actions.

If you begin making payments when there is an active warrant for your arrest, you must contact the Child Support Unit immediately to negotiate an agreement to have the commitment vacated. A warrant is not automatically vacated.

You must have an arrears balance, which means you did not pay all of the child support court ordered when the child was a minor. You can contact your case worker for more information. Income withholding will remain in place until all court obligations are paid in full. The KIDS system will only disburse the monies that are due and no more. Should you end up with an overpayment, it will be refunded to you.

You may request payment records from the WI SCTF for the current year to date and the full previous year. Any older payment records will come from the Child Support Unit. One you receive the payment records you can compare them with your own records to determine if the balance of back support is accurate. Please contact the Child Support Unit if you feel there is an error so we may discuss the possible reasons for any discrepancies. You must provide evidence that supports your belief of an error. The Child Support Unit will then review the case to determine if there is in fact an error.

Under Wisconsin law, the parent paying support is charged $65.00 for processing and maintaining the payment records on your child support case. This fee is charged each year on each court case. This fee is charged January 1^st each year.

After October 1^st each year the Custodial Parent (CP) is charged a $35.00 fee after the case receives $550.00 or more in support. For collection purposes, the system follows the federal fiscal year which runs from October 1^st to September 30^th each year. The fee will automatically be taken out of a support payment prior to the payment being disbursed to the CP. If another state is providing you with child support services, the other state charges and collects the annual fee. 

Contact the child support agency handling your case to request a review of your child support order if there has been a substantial change in circumstances since the last order was entered. Some examples of a substantial change in circumstances are:
1.The court changes a child’s placement from one parent to the other
2. The paying parent receives a raise that would lead to an increase of more than 15% and $50 per month
3. The parent receiving support begins to receive public assistance benefits and the order is old or no support was ordered
4. The paying parent becomes incapacitated and can no longer work. A review is the process of checking a child support order to see if it needs to be modified.

A modification of the order can result in an increase, a decrease or no change at all. Both parents will be mailed notice of the review and are required to provide current financial information to the child support agency. The child support agency and child support attorneys who appear at hearings represent the interests of the State of Wisconsin—they do not represent either parent.

No. The biological parents of the child are responsible for supporting the child. Wisconsin law states that a step-parent has no legal responsibility to support the child(ren) of their new spouse.

No. A modification the child support order could increase, decrease or remain the same.

A court order can only be changed by a new court order. Below are a few ways you could seek a modification…

1. If it has been more than three years since your last order was reviewed or entered, you can contact the Child Support Unit and request a review of your case. If it has been less than three years since your last review or order was entered a support order may be reviewed if there are substantial changes in the circumstances. Once a review has been completed, both parties will receive written communication as to the results.

2. You may hire a private attorney for this process.

3. You can take the case to court on your own by filing pro se with the Clerk of Courts.

You will continue to be billed for any missed child support payments (arrears) or any fees or expenses that have been ordered on your case until the debts are paid in full. You will also be billed for any interest that has accrued on the arrears on your case.

You can call the child support agency 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 608-637-5335 to leave your new information. Please remember that you must provide your full name, PIN, or Social Security Number if you are leaving the message on our voicemail. You must also provide your current telephone number in the event we need to contact you to verify the information.

In the State of Wisconsin, payments are processed by the Wisconsin Support Collection Trust Fund (WI SCTF). If you know your personal identification number (PIN), you can access information about the last two payments you made or received by calling 800-991-5530, or by logging onto the state website: Wisconsin Child Support Payments