Chapter 769

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

769.901   Uniformity of application and construction.

769.903   Severability.

subch. I of ch. 769 SUBCHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

769.101 769.101 Definitions. In this chapter:

769.101(1) (1) “Child” means an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual’s parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent.

769.101(2) (2) “Child support order” means a support order for a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state or foreign country.

769.101(2c) (2c) “Convention” means the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The Hague on November 23, 2007.

769.101(3) (3) “Duty of support” means an obligation imposed or imposable by law to provide support for a child, spouse or former spouse, including an unsatisfied obligation to provide support.

769.101(3c) (3c) “Foreign country” means a country, including a political subdivision of the country, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders and to which any of the following applies:

769.101(3c)(a) (a) The country or political subdivision has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign reciprocating country.

769.101(3c)(b) (b) The country or political subdivision has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with this state under s. 769.308 (2).

769.101(3c)(c) (c) The country or political subdivision has enacted a law or established procedures for the issuance and enforcement of support orders that are substantially similar to the procedures under this chapter.

769.101(3c)(d) (d) The country or political subdivision is one in which the convention is in force with respect to the United States.

769.101(3g) (3g) “Foreign support order” means a support order of a foreign tribunal.

769.101(3m) (3m) “Foreign tribunal” means a court, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity of a foreign country that is authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. “Foreign tribunal” includes a competent authority under the convention.

769.101(4) (4) “Home state” means the state or foreign country in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as parent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately preceding the time of the filing of a petition or comparable pleading for support or, if a child is less than 6 months old, the state or foreign country in which the child lived from birth with any of them. A period of temporary absence of any of them is counted as part of the 6-month or other period.

769.101(5) (5) “Income” includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money from any source and any other property subject to withholding for support under the law of this state.

769.101(6) (6) “Income-withholding order” means an order, notice, or other legal process directed to an obligor’s employer or other debtor, as specified in s. 767.75 (1f), to withhold support from the income of, or other money owed to, the obligor.

769.101(8) (8) “Initiating tribunal” means the tribunal of a state or foreign country from which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded or in which a petition or comparable pleading is filed for forwarding to another state or foreign country.

769.101(8m) (8m) “Issuing foreign country” means the foreign country in which a tribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.

769.101(9) (9) “Issuing state” means the state in which a tribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.

769.101(10) (10) “Issuing tribunal” means the tribunal of a state or foreign country that issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.

769.101(11) (11) “Law” includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law.

769.101(12) (12) “Obligee” means any of the following:

769.101(12)(a) (a) An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child has been issued.

769.101(12)(b) (b) A foreign country, state, or political subdivision of a state to which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been assigned or which has independent claims based on financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support.

769.101(12)(c) (c) An individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the individual’s child.

769.101(12)(d) (d) A person that is a creditor in a proceeding under subch. VII.

769.101(13) (13) “Obligor” means an individual, or the estate of a decedent, to whom any of the following applies:

769.101(13)(a) (a) The individual or decedent owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support.

769.101(13)(b) (b) The individual or decedent is alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent of a child.

769.101(13)(c) (c) The individual or decedent is liable under a support order.

769.101(13)(d) (d) The individual or decedent is a debtor in a proceeding under subch. VII.

769.101(13m) (13m) “Outside this state” means a location in another state or a country other than the United States, whether or not the country is a foreign country.

769.101(13p) (13p) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.

769.101(13r) (13r) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form.

769.101(14) (14) “Register” means to file in a tribunal of this state a support order or judgment determining parentage of a child issued in another state or a foreign country.

769.101(15) (15) “Registering tribunal” means a tribunal in which a support order or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered.

769.101(16) (16) “Responding state” means a state in which a petition or comparable pleading for support or to determine parentage of a child is filed or to which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded for filing from another state or a foreign country.

769.101(17) (17) “Responding tribunal” means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country.

769.101(18) (18) “Spousal-support order” means a support order for a spouse or former spouse of the obligor.

769.101(19) (19) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. “State” includes an Indian nation or tribe.

769.101(20) (20) “Support enforcement agency” means a public official, governmental entity, or private agency authorized to do any of the following:

769.101(20)(a) (a) Seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support.

769.101(20)(b) (b) Seek establishment or modification of child support.

769.101(20)(c) (c) Request determination of parentage of a child.

769.101(20)(d) (d) Attempt to locate obligors or their assets.

769.101(20)(e) (e) Request determination of the controlling child support order.

769.101(21) (21) “Support order” means a judgment, decree, order, decision, or directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse, or a former spouse, that provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, retroactive support, or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. “Support order” may include related costs and fees, interest, income withholding, automatic adjustment, reasonable attorney fees, and other relief.

769.101(22) (22) “Tribunal” means a court, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child.

769.101 History History: 1993 a. 326; 1997 a. 27; 2009 a. 321; 2015 a. 82 ss. 1, 2, 12.

769.102 769.102 State tribunal and support enforcement agency.

769.102(1) (1) The courts and circuit and supplemental court commissioners are the tribunal of this state.

769.102(2) (2) The department of children and families and county child support agencies under s. 59.53 (5) are the support enforcement agencies of this state.

769.102 History History: 1993 a. 326; 2001 a. 61; 2009 a. 321; 2015 a. 82 s. 12.

769.103 769.103 Remedies cumulative.

769.103(1) (1) Remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and do not affect the availability of remedies under other law or the recognition of a foreign support order on the basis of comity.

769.103(2) (2) This chapter does not do any of the following:

769.103(2)(a) (a) Provide the exclusive method of establishing or enforcing a support order under the law of this state.

769.103(2)(b) (b) Grant a tribunal of this state jurisdiction to render judgment or issue an order relating to legal custody or physical placement of a child in a proceeding under this chapter.

769.103 History History: 1993 a. 326; 2009 a. 321; 2015 a. 82 ss. 3, 12.

769.105 769.105 Application of chapter to resident of foreign country and foreign support proceeding.

769.105(1) (1) A tribunal of this state shall apply subchs. I to VI and, as applicable, subch. VII, to a support proceeding that involves any of the following:

769.105(1)(a) (a) A foreign support order.

769.105(1)(b) (b) A foreign tribunal.

769.105(1)(c) (c) An obligee, obligor, or child residing in a foreign country.

769.105(2) (2) A tribunal of this state that is requested to recognize and enforce a support order on the basis of comity may apply the procedural and substantive provisions of subchs. I to VI.

769.105(3) (3) Subchapter VII applies only to a support proceeding under the convention. In such a proceeding, if a provision of subch. VII is inconsistent with subchs. I to VI, subch. VII controls.

769.105 History History: 2009 a. 321; 2015 a. 82 s. 12.

subch. II of ch. 769 SUBCHAPTER II

JURISDICTION

769.201 769.201 Bases for jurisdiction over nonresident.

769.201(1m) (1m) In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual, or the individual’s guardian or conservator, if any of the following applies:

769.201(1m)(a) (a) The individual is personally served with a summons or other notice within this state.

769.201(1m)(b) (b) The individual submits to the jurisdiction of this state by consent, by entering a general appearance or by filing a responsive document having the effect of waiving any contest to personal jurisdiction.

769.201(1m)(c) (c) The individual resided with the child in this state.

769.201(1m)(d) (d) The individual resided in this state and provided prenatal expenses or support for the child.

769.201(1m)(e) (e) The child resides in this state as a result of the acts or directives of the individual.

769.201(1m)(f) (f) The individual engaged in sexual intercourse in this state and the child may have been conceived by that act of intercourse.

769.201(1m)(g) (g) The individual asserted parentage of a child in a declaration of paternal interest filed with the department of children and families under s. 48.025 or in a statement acknowledging paternity filed with the state registrar under s. 69.15 (3) (b) 1. or 3.

769.201(1m)(gm) (gm) The individual was conclusively determined from genetic test results to be the father under s. 767.804.

769.201(1m)(h) (h) There is any other basis consistent with the constitutions of this state and the United States for the exercise of personal jurisdiction.

769.201(2m) (2m) The bases of personal jurisdiction set forth in sub. (1m) or in any other law of this state may not be used to acquire personal jurisdiction for a tribunal of this state to modify a child support order of another state unless the requirements of s. 769.611 are met or, in the case of a foreign support order, unless the requirements of s. 769.615 are met.

769.201 History History: 1993 a. 326; 1995 a. 27 s. 9126 (19); 2007 a. 20; 2009 a. 321; 2015 a. 82 s. 12; 2019 a. 95.

769.201 Annotation When conception allegedly occurred in Florida and the non-resident alleged father visited Wisconsin only once following the birth, for an unspecified purpose, the child’s residence in the state was an insufficient contact to subject the alleged father to the court’s jurisdiction. State ex rel. N.R.Z. v. G.L.C., 152 Wis. 2d 97, 447 N.W.2d 533 (1989).

769.201 Annotation The predecessor of sub. (1m) (f), former s. 767.01 (2) (b), 1989 stats., did not violate the due process clause. Paternity of C.A.K., 159 Wis. 2d 224, 464 N.W.2d 59 (Ct. App. 1990).