Wi Child Support Question

Each state is different but child support is usually determined by his earning potential. If they determine he is "voluntarily underemployed" then they will base his child support obligation on the income he would make if he chose to work.

I am not sure, she should talk with a lawyer....but here in my state the judge looks at your education level and your past employment and sets a 'attainable' wage for you, even if you are not working. Basically the judge decides what you COULD BE making if you WERE employed and still orders you to pay off of that income.

They can't go after a spouse's income. Even though they are married the spouse has no obligation to that child. Only the mother and father are on the court order to pay-- not mother, father, and new wife.

Child support will still stand if he's unemployed. My sons father was unemployed when we got the child support order and it was only 20% of full time minimum wage. In other words, don't expect much if it goes that route.

It will go off of his income. But being that he is choosing to be a stay home father they may look at her income and then he would still be responsible for payments.

contact a lawyer or child support recovery to be sure.

Court ordered child support can only be adjusted through the court. If he is not working but already has an order in place that order will stand. If he takes her to court to have the child support reduced they will not look at his spouse's income because his spouse in under no obligation to support children outside of their marriage. More than likely the court will determine what amount he will still be responsible to pay.

Your friend will need an attorney. It has been my experience as a woman and former single parent that I was better served by the legal system having an attorney in my corner over not having an attorney in my corner.

she needs to talk to a lawyer. or go to the Child support department of her state. they can assist her.

I don't know but I think it goes by household income. She needs to call a laywer.

I don't know if she can "go after" the new wife, but the support order will not be modified because he has chosen not to work. In California, he would not be allowed to make a choice like that. He owes child support and the courts here would require him to work and if not working, put great effort into finding a job and reporting all of his efforts to the court. When I say report efforts, I mean they have to tell the court who they contacted, what date/time, name of person spoken to, result, etc. And every now and then, the court personell really follow-up and check to be sure that the contacts were made. If he refused to do that, they would lock him up.

So, she should consult with an attorney if and when he files papers to modify support.

His child support obligation will not change unless he goes to court to request a modification. If he is voluntarily not making an income, most family courts would base his child support contribution on his earning ability. In other words, his child support amount from before he quit his job would stand, since he has proven that to be the amount he is able to earn.

So, she can't "go after" his wife's income, but if they chose for him to stay at home, her income is where the money is going to be coming from.

She probably cannot go after the spouses income (just like he couldn't reduce the payment just because SHE remarries someone who has an income), but the payment won't necessarily go down.

First of all, nothing will change in his financial responsibility unless or until HE files for a modification of child support. He is required to pay the current amount until there is a new order.

Second, if he QUITS hit job because he WANTS to stay home, it's unlikely that a judge would lower his financial responsibility to his child. The only catch would be if he gets his employer somehow to lay him off.

Fond du Lac County will enforce the current child support order until someone files for a court date to have support re-assessed. If he is unemployed, whether by choice or not, he is still responsible for this amount of money. They will not lower the amount of support owed due to an addition to his family, but may reduce it if he works a job with lower pay. As he is going to be voluntarily unemployed, they most likely will not lower his obligation.
In my experience with the judge in family court, we were told that the amount of support will not be lowered at any time, whether due to an additional child or loss of work. As long as he was making an effort to pay, they would not issue a warrant for non-payment of child support unless it reached a certain amount of back support. All of this information is easily available to your friend if she just calls the case worker assigned to her by the child support division. They have always been extremely helpful to me. My case is earmarked at 90 days. If my ex does not pay his support for 90 days, a court date is automatically generated for a re-assessment of the order. Since my ex doesn't want to have to pay more than he already does ($425/mo), he will pay his support about every 88 days so that he doesn't have to go back to court. He doesn't want to pay, but will, even when unemployed.
All your friend needs to do is call and start the process if she wants to do so. It is extremely easy to do. She just fills out some paperwork (about 3-4 pages), and provides proof of address, employment, and tax returns, and that's it. There may be a $10 filing fee initially. There are no other costs unless she retains a lawyer, but if she is prepared, she shouldn't need one unless he retains one.

She cannot "go after" the spouse's money. How it usually works: If he voluntarily becomes unemployed (or would otherwise lose his job based on his actions, i.e. drunk driving), the current support order will stand and will not be modified based on unemployment (but can be modified based on his new addition to his family). If he were to ask for a modification based on having a new child in the family, the Court would impute his income based on earning potential (they would probably use whatever he was making when he was working) and possibly give him an additional dependent credit, calculate her income and apply any changes in her circumstances and then calculate support owed.

I am not sure about WI. I would think that any bill he owes they have to pay even though it isn't the wife's obligation. As they said, they would have to go back to court to get it changed. If they fall behind she could probably get the income tax return, if they file together, or have it taken from joint accounts, anything with his name on it. It certainly sounds like they are trying to avoid child support and that won't look good in court.

Usually not, BUT, unless the court ordered child support is paid, her ex-husband most likely will be found in contempt of court for failure to pay the child support. He cannot claim that he is unemployed because he made a choice to no longer participate in the WI job market. He will still be responsible to pay his fair share of child care for his children from his first marriage.

There is no reason he can't work part time night/weekends when his wife is home with the babies. I don't believe going after her for money will happen in WI. Please check with a lawyer for the actual law. It does go by HIS income and not household income.
I wanted to let you know that the courts will not modify his child support because he has another child with someone else. The courts in WI have the motto first in time first in line. Basically if he can't afford afford child support for one he should not have another one.
Also you may be able to get his income tax return if he is working and behind. However, if only she is working and it is her money coming back she can claim injured spouce and you will not be able to touch it. You would only be able to claim on his part if she plays the injured spouce card.