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Child Support Unit - Services

 

The Buffalo County Child Support Office is located in the Department of Health and Human Services on the 3rd Floor of the Buffalo County Courthouse, 407 South Second Street, Alma, Wisconsin 54610 (608) 685-4412.

 
All parents have a responsibility to financially support their children.  Wisconsin's child support program helps ensure that children receive the financial support they need.

 
To obtain services of the Buffalo County Child Support Agency, you must fill out an  application form and pay a one-time fee of $20.00.  Exceptions may apply if you
 1.  are found to be indigent after filling out an Affidavit of 
       Indigency
 2. if you have received public assistance.  Public assistance 
      can include medical assistance, childcare assistance, food 
      stamps, and participation in the W-2 program.  There may 
      be additional charges for individual services,  such as the 
      Tax Intercept Program.
 

SERVICES OF THE CHILD SUPPORT OFFICE:

 

The services available from the child support program include the following:
ESTABLISHING PATERNITY
If your child was conceived or born when you were married, the husband is the legal father (unless the court decides otherwise).  If you were not married, legal fatherhood has to be decided before a court will order child support.  This process is called "establishing paternity ".  Establishing paternity guarantees your child's right to receive financial support, medical support, tribal rights and inheritance rights from the father.

The length of time it takes to establish paternity depends on what steps will be necessary to complete the process.  If the father signs and files the Wisconsin  Voluntary Paternity  Acknowledgment form (a paper which declares himself to be the father), the process is very fast. The Agency can provide you with the form at your request.  If the father has not signed a Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgement form, a paternity action must be filed in court, which will take longer.

It is recommended that genetic testing be done to confirm that a man is the father of a child; this can take a month or so to schedule and receive the results.  The cost of the test, usually less than $200.00, can be paid initially by the Child Support Agency, subject to reimbursement from the father as confirmed by the test.
FINDING AN ABSENT PARENT
Our Agency can try to find absent parents by using tools through the statewide child support computer system and other databases available to the agency staff. It is helpful if you can provide the parent's name and social security number.  If the absent parent has moved to another state, the Agency can ask the other state to find him/her.  The Agency can also search throughout the United States for the absent parent by using the Federal Parent Locator Service.
ESTABLISHING CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS
The Agency can assist in obtaining a child support order against a parent who is not living with and directly supporting his or her child.  This can be in a situation where the parents are married but separated and not pursing a divorce, or a situation where paternity was established but no support order made (because the parents were living together at the time), or in a situation where the child is temporarily placed in foster care or an alternative care placement.

The Agency will investigate how much the other parent earns and determine how much child support should be paid using State Percentage Standards (DWD40) unless there is a good reason to deviate from them.  The Agency will first try to get an agreement from the other parent to pay support.  If no agreement is reached the Agency will file a motion to establish.
ENFORCING CHILD/MEDIAL SUPPORT ORDERS
The Agency has a number of tools to enforce court orders for child support or medical support.

Enforcement tools include:
interception of payer's income tax refunds (an additional small fee is charged for this service)
 liens against real and personal property
denial or suspension of recreational, occupational or driver's license
 court orders that the payer find and retain employment
 civil court charges of contempt
criminal court charges of felony nonsupport
passport denial
automatic income withholding
 automatic National Medical Support Notice
financial account seizure
Credit Bureau Reporting

financial record matching program

Not all remedies are appropriate in each case.  The Agency can help find the enforcement tool most effective for you.
INTERSTATE ENFORCEMENT
Sometimes a parent with a child support obligation in Wisconsin lives in another state.  Federal law requires states to cooperate with each other in child support enforcement.  The Child Support Agency will provide your case information to the other state and ask them to establish a new order or enforce an existing one.  the other state will then provide all support enforcement.  Paternity can also be established across state lines.                
 

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