| 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.
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| 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.
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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
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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.
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SERVICES
OF THE CHILD SUPPORT OFFICE:
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The
services available from the child support program
include the following:
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 | 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.
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 | 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.
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 | 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. |
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 | 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:
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Not
all remedies are appropriate in each case.
The Agency can help find the enforcement
tool most effective for you.
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 | 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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