(The Center Square) – A new Wisconsin law requires both parties in a child support or maintenance agreement to notify the other parent within 10 days of a significant change in gross income or a change of job.
Previously, only the person paying child support and maintenance needed to notify the other party of an income change. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers and is now in effect.
“Raising a child is a shared responsibility, and so is the duty to ensure that child support payments reflect each parent’s actual financial situation,” Rep. Ron Tusler, R-Harrison wrote in testimony on the bill. “When only one party is held accountable for timely updates, the system becomes unbalanced, and in some cases, that imbalance means children are caught in the middle of a dispute that could have been avoided with better communication.”
Wisconsin Act 82 of 2025 also clarified that the notice is related to gross income rather than income, which was not defined previously.
The Family Law Section Board of the State Bar of Wisconsin supported the changes, including the clarification on what income counts toward the child support or maintenance calculations.
“Providing clear guidance to both parties, as well as ensuring both payors and payees are expected to be transparent with their income, will provide parity between parties and ensure accuracy of child support or maintenance payments in a timely fashion, while also providing safeguards when appropriate,” the group wrote in testimony on the law.
Another bill signed into law clarified that “miles” related to relocating a child or custody of a child refers to driving miles rather than simply the distance between two locations.
“Because the statute does not expressly specify that the 100-mile standard refers to road miles, valuable court time and expense has been consumed by those who have claimed the 100 miles can entail a straight-line or ‘as the crow flies’ distance that is not backed by precedent,” Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, wrote in testimony on the bill.
