767.531.Family support.

Subch. VI: Support and Maintenance · Last amended 2021 · Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 · Last verified September 8, 2026

In one sentenceSection 767.531 keeps the interest rule and the payment-application order alive for family support ordered under the older statute.

Full Text of Section 767.531

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Subject to s. 767.511 (6m), a party ordered to pay family support under this section, 2019 stats., shall pay simple interest at the rate of 1 percent per month on any amount in arrears that is equal to or greater than the amount of child support due in one month. Subject to s. 767.511 (6m), if the party no longer has a current obligation to pay child support, interest at the rate of 1 percent per month shall accrue on the total amount of child support in arrears, if any. Interest under this section is in lieu of interest computed under s. 807.01 (4), 814.04 (4), or 815.05 (8) and is paid to the department or its designee under s. 767.57. Except as provided in s. 767.57 (1m), the department or its designee shall apply all payments received for family support ordered under this section, 2019 stats., as follows:

(1) First, to payment of family support due within the calendar month during which the payment is received.

(2) Second, to payment of unpaid family support due before the payment is received.

(3) Third, to payment of interest accruing on unpaid family support.

End

Amendment History

Wisconsin prints each section’s legislative history as a single “History” line naming every act that created or amended it, and every renumbering. It is reproduced verbatim below.

History: 1977 c. 105; 1979 c. 32 ss. 50, 92 (4); Stats. 1979 s. 767.261; 1983 a. 27; 1985 a. 29; 1993 a. 481; 1995 a. 279; 1997 a. 27, 191; 1999 a. 9, 32; 2005 a. 443 s. 111; Stats. 2005 s. 767.531; 2013 a. 20; 2021 a. 35.

Plain-English Summary

Family support — a single combined payment covering both maintenance and child support — is no longer ordered under a current provision, and what survives here is the machinery for the orders that already exist.

A party ordered to pay family support pays simple interest at 1 percent per month on arrears equal to or greater than one month's child support, and once the current obligation ends, on the whole arrearage. That interest replaces the interest the general civil statutes would charge, and it is paid to the department.

Payments are applied in the same fixed order as child support: first to family support due within the month the payment is received, then to unpaid family support from before, then to interest. The pilot-rate provision in the child support section applies here too.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is family support in Wisconsin?

A combined maintenance and child support payment. This section now governs interest and the application of payments on family support ordered under the earlier statute.

What interest accrues on unpaid family support?

Simple interest at 1 percent per month on arrears equal to or greater than one month's child support, subject to the pilot-rate provision in the child support section.

How is a payment applied?

First to family support due within the calendar month it is received, then to unpaid family support due before that, then to interest.

Source & verification. The statutory text, official notes and history are reproduced verbatim from the Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 767 (Wis. Stat. § 767.531), published by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified September 8, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: family support Wisconsinfamily support interest arrears767.531 family support