767.59.Revision of support and maintenance orders.

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

In one sentenceSection 767.59 governs revision of support and maintenance orders — support needs a substantial change in circumstances, revisions run only forward, and a remarried maintenance payee's order is vacated.

Full Text of Section 767.59

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(1) DEFINITION. In this section, “support or maintenance order” means a judgment or order providing for child support under this chapter or s. 48.355 (2) (b) 4. or (4g) (a), 48.357 (5m) (a), 48.363 (2), 938.183 (4), 938.355 (2) (b) 4. or (4g) (a), 938.357 (5m) (a), 938.363 (2), or 948.22 (7), for maintenance payments under s. 767.56, for family support payments under s. 767.531, 2019 stats., or for the appointment of trustees or receivers under s. 767.57 (5).

(1c) COURT AUTHORITY. (a) On the petition, motion, or order to show cause of either of the parties, the department, a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, or 46.23, or a county child support agency under s. 59.53 (5) if an assignment has been made under s. 48.57 (3m) (b) 2. or (3n) (b) 2., 48.645 (3), 49.19 (4) (h), or 49.45 (19) or if either party or their minor children receive aid under s. 48.57 (3m) or (3n) or 48.645 or ch. 49, a court may, except as provided in par. (b), do any of the following: 1. Revise and alter a support or maintenance order as to the amount and payment of maintenance or child support and the appropriation and payment of the principal and income of property held in trust. 2. Make any judgment or order on any matter that the court might have made in the original action.

(b) A court may not revise or modify a judgment or order that waives maintenance payments for either party or a judgment or order with respect to final division of property.

(1f) SUPPORT: SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES. (a) Except as provided in par. (d), a revision under this section of a judgment or order as to the amount of child or family support may be made only upon a finding of a substantial change in circumstances.

(b) In an action under this section to revise a judgment or order with respect to the amount of child support, any of the following constitutes a rebuttable presumption of a substantial change in circumstances sufficient to justify a revision of the judgment or order: 1. Commencement of receipt of aid to families with dependent children under s. 49.19 or participation in Wisconsin works under ss. 49.141 to 49.161 by either parent since the entry of the last child support order, including a revision of a child support order under this section. 2. Unless the amount of child support is expressed in the judgment or order as a percentage of parental income, the expiration of 33 months after the date of the entry of the last child support order, including a revision of a child support order under this section. 3. Failure of the payer to furnish a timely disclosure under s. 767.54. 4. A difference between the amount of child support ordered by the court to be paid by the payer and the amount that the payer would have been required to pay based on the percentage standard established by the department under s. 49.22 (9) if the court did not use the percentage standard in determining the child support payments and did not provide the information required under s. 46.10 (14) (d), 49.345 (14) (d), 301.12 (14) (d), or 767.511 (1n), whichever is appropriate.

(c) In an action under this section to revise a judgment or order with respect to an amount of child support, any of the following may constitute a substantial change of circumstances sufficient to justify revision of the judgment or order: 1. Unless the amount of child support is expressed in the judgment or order as a percentage of parental income, a change in the payer’s income, evidenced by information received under s. 49.22 (2m) by the department or the county child support agency under s. 59.53 (5) or by other information, from the payer’s income determined by the court in its most recent judgment or order for child support, including a revision of a child support order under this section. 2. A change in the needs of the child. 3. A change in the payer’s earning capacity. 4. Any other factor that the court determines is relevant.

(d) In an action under this section to revise a judgment or order with respect to child or family support, the court is not required to make a finding of a substantial change in circumstances to change to a fixed sum the manner in which the amount of child or family support is expressed in the judgment or order.

(1k) MAINTENANCE: CHANGE IN COST OF LIVING. In an action under this section to revise maintenance payments, a substantial change in the cost of living for either party or as measured by the federal bureau of labor statistics may be sufficient to support a revision of the amount of maintenance, except that a change in an obligor’s cost of living is not by itself sufficient if payments are expressed as a percentage of income.

(1m) PAYMENT REVISIONS PROSPECTIVE. In an action under sub. (1c) to revise a judgment or order with respect to child support, maintenance payments, or family support payments, the court may not revise the amount of child support, maintenance payments, or family support payments due, or an amount of arrearages in child support, maintenance payments, or family support payments that has accrued, prior to the date that notice of the action is given to the respondent, except to correct previous errors in calculations.

(1r) CREDIT TO PAYER FOR CERTAIN PAYMENTS. In an action under sub. (1c) to revise a judgment or order with respect to child support or family support, the court may grant credit to the payer against support due prior to the date on which the petition, motion, or order to show cause is served for payments made by the payer other than payments made as provided in s. 767.57 or 767.75, in any of the following circumstances:

(b) The payer shows by documentary evidence that the payments were made directly to the payee by check or money order, and shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the payments were intended for support and not intended as a gift to or on behalf of the child, or as some other voluntary expenditure, or for the payment of some other obligation to the payee.

(c) The payer proves by clear and convincing evidence, with evidence of a written agreement, that the payee expressly agreed to accept the payments in lieu of child or family support paid as provided in s. 767.57 or 767.75, not including gifts or contributions for entertainment.

(d) The payer proves by documentary evidence that, for a period during which unpaid support accrued, the child received benefits under 42 USC 402 (d) based on the payer’s entitlement to federal disability insurance benefits under 42 USC 401 to 433. Any credit granted under this paragraph shall be limited to the amount of unpaid support that accrued during the period for which the benefits under 42 USC 402 (d) were paid.

(e) The payer proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the child lived with the payer, with the agreement of the payee, for more than 60 days beyond a court-ordered period of physical placement. Credit may not be granted under this paragraph if, with respect to the time that the child lived with the payer beyond the court-ordered period of physical placement, the payee sought to enforce the physical placement order through civil or criminal process or if the payee shows that the child’s relocation to the payer’s home was not mutually agreed to by both parents.

(f) The payer proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the payer and payee resumed living together with the child and that, during the period for which a credit is sought, the payer directly supported the family by paying amounts at least equal to the amount of unpaid court-ordered support that accrued during that period.

(2) PERCENTAGE STANDARD REQUIRED; EXCEPTIONS. (a) Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), if the court revises a judgment or order with respect to child support payments, it shall do so by using the percentage standard established by the department under s. 49.22 (9).

(b) Upon request by a party, the court may modify the amount of revised child support payments determined under par. (a) if, after considering the factors listed in s. 767.511 (1m), the court finds, by the greater weight of the credible evidence, that the use of the percentage standard is unfair to the child or to any of the parties.

(c) If the court revises a judgment or order providing for child support that was entered under s. 48.355 (2) (b) 4. or (4g) (a), 48.357 (5m) (a), 48.363 (2), 938.183 (4), 938.355 (2) (b) 4. or (4g) (a), 938.357 (5m) (a), or 938.363 (2), the court shall determine child support in the manner provided in s. 49.345 (14) or 301.12 (14), whichever is applicable.

(2s) STIPULATION FOR REVISION OF SUPPORT. In an action under sub. (1c), the court may not approve a stipulation for the revision of a judgment or order with respect to an amount of child support or family support unless the stipulation provides for payment of an amount of child support or family support that is determined in the manner required under s. 46.10 (14), 49.345 (14), 301.12 (14), 767.511, 767.804 (3), 767.805 (4), or 767.89, whichever is appropriate.

(2w) WHEN REVISION EFFECTIVE. A revision of a judgment or order with respect to child support, family support, or maintenance payments has the effect of modifying the original judgment or order with respect to the payments to the extent of the revision from the date on which the order revising the payments is effective. The child support, family support, or maintenance payments modified by the order for revision shall cease to accrue under the original judgment or order from the date on which the order revising the payments is effective.

(3) REMARRIAGE; VACATING MAINTENANCE ORDER. After a final judgment requiring maintenance payments has been rendered and the payee has remarried, the court shall, on application of the payer with notice to the payee and upon proof of the payee’s remarriage, or upon receiving notice from the payee of the payee’s remarriage, as required under s. 767.58 (1r) (c), vacate the order requiring the maintenance payments.

(4) REVIEW WHEN THE STATE IS A REAL PARTY IN INTEREST. In any case in which the state is a real party in interest under s. 767.205 (2), the department shall review the support obligation periodically and, if appropriate, petition the court for revision of the judgment or order with respect to the support obligation.

(5) NOTICE OF CHILD SUPPORT INFORMATION. A summons or petition, motion, or order to show cause under this section shall include notification of the availability of information under s. 767.105 (2).

End

Official Notes

Wisconsin prints certain labelled notes with the statute — effective-date notes, cross-references, and notes of the Judicial Council. They are reproduced verbatim below. The unlabelled digest of court decisions that the Legislative Reference Bureau prints after them is annotation rather than statute, and is not reproduced.

Cross-reference: See also Wisconsin Administrative Code Citations published in the Wisconsin Administrative Code for a list of citations to cases citing chs. DCF 150, HSS 80, HFS 80, and DWD 40, Wis. adm. code, the child support percentage of income standard.

NOTE: The standard for modifying child support orders was significantly changed by 1993 Wis. Act 16.

NOTE: 2005 Wis. Act 443 contains explanatory notes.

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: 1971 c. 220; 1977 c. 105 ss. 38, 48, 49; 1977 c. 418; 1979 c. 32 ss. 50, 92 (4); Stats. 1979 s. 767.32; 1981 c. 20 s. 2202 (20) (m); 1981 c. 314 s. 146; 1983 a. 27; 1985 a. 176; 1987 a. 27, 355, 413; 1989 a. 212; 1991 a. 39; 1993 a. 16, 481, 491; 1995 a. 27 s. 9126 (19); 1995 a. 77, 201, 225, 279, 289, 404, 417; 1997 a. 27, 35, 105, 191, 237, 273; 1999 a. 9, 103; 2001 a. 16, 61, 105; 2005 a. 443 ss. 147 to 159, 227, 228; Stats. 2005 s. 767.59; 2007 a. 20; 2013 a. 209; 2015 a. 373; 2019 a. 95; 2021 a. 35; 2025 a. 82.

Plain-English Summary

This is the section every long-running support case comes back to.

Who may ask, and for what. Either party, the department, a county department or the county child support agency where an assignment exists or aid is being paid. The court may revise the amount and payment of maintenance or support and deal with trust property, and may make any order it could have made originally. It may not reopen a judgment that waived maintenance, or the final division of property.

The support standard. A revision of the amount requires a finding of a substantial change in circumstances. Some things raise a rebuttable presumption of one: the parties' entry onto public assistance since the last order; the expiration of 33 months since the last order, unless support is expressed as a percentage of income; a failure to make the annual financial disclosure on time; and a gap between what was ordered and what the percentage standard would have produced where the court neither used the standard nor gave the required information. Other things merely may amount to one: a change in the payer's income, in the child's needs, or in the payer's earning capacity, and anything else relevant.

Maintenance. A substantial change in the cost of living for either party, or as measured by the federal bureau of labor statistics, may support a revision — except that a change in the payer's own cost of living is not enough by itself where payments are a percentage of income.

Only forward. The court may not revise support or maintenance due, or arrears already accrued, before the date notice of the action was given to the respondent, except to correct previous errors in calculation. Arrears are not retroactively forgiven.

Credit for payments made another way. The payer may be credited for support paid outside the official channel in the listed circumstances: documentary evidence of direct payment by check or money order intended as support rather than a gift; clear and convincing evidence of a written agreement to accept those payments instead; social security disability benefits the child received on the payer's entitlement; the child having lived with the payer, by agreement, for more than 60 days beyond the ordered placement, unless the payee sought to enforce the order or shows the move was not agreed; and the parties having resumed living together with the payer supporting the family directly.

Endings. A revision takes effect from the date the revising order is effective. Where a maintenance payee has remarried, the court shall vacate the maintenance order on the payer's application or on the payee's own notice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change child support in Wisconsin?

By petition, motion or order to show cause under this section. A revision of the amount requires a finding of a substantial change in circumstances.

Is there an automatic right to review after a period of time?

The expiration of 33 months after the last child support order raises a rebuttable presumption of a substantial change in circumstances, unless support is expressed as a percentage of parental income.

Can back support be wiped out?

No. The court may not revise amounts due or arrears accrued before notice of the action was given to the respondent, except to correct previous calculation errors.

Can I get credit for money I paid directly?

Possibly, in the circumstances the section lists — among them documentary evidence of direct payment intended as support, a written agreement to accept it, disability benefits paid to the child, and the child having lived with you by agreement for more than 60 days beyond the ordered placement.

Does maintenance end when my ex remarries?

The court shall vacate the maintenance order on the payer's application with proof of the remarriage, or on receiving the payee's own notice of it.

Source & verification. The statutory text, official notes and history are reproduced verbatim from the Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 767 (Wis. Stat. § 767.59), 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: modify child support Wisconsinsubstantial change in circumstances support33 months support reviewvacate maintenance remarriage767.59 revision