Your Life. Your Future. Our Experience.
As parents, you want the best for your children. When divorce or separation enters the picture, a key concern for high-earning parents often shifts to maintaining their child’s established lifestyle despite the end of the marriage. You aim for stability and continuity, ensuring your child thrives despite these significant changes. Thoughtful planning is essential to achieve this goal.
The importance of lifestyle maintenance
Maintaining your child’s lifestyle means more than just covering basic needs. It includes preserving their access to the activities, education and experiences they know. A consistent lifestyle helps your child feel secure during a difficult time, giving them a sense of normalcy.
Child support is a foundational piece of this financial puzzle as it ensures both parents contribute to the child’s well-being. Wisconsin courts consider various factors in high-income child support cases.
Wisconsin child support guidelines adjust support for incomes over $84,000 per year, and further adjustments for income above $150,000. Pursuant to statute, in rare circumstances, the courts can also adjust support amounts if the standard guidelines seem unfair such as when the guidelines result in unusually high amounts of child support. The courts generally find that the child should continue to benefit from the high-income lifestyle that they enjoyed during the marriage.
If there is shared placement, you should also plan for what Wisconsin calls “variable costs.” These include:
- Education: Private school tuition, special tutoring, unique academic programs, school trips and supplies
- Extracurriculars: High-level sports with travel teams, specialized coaching, equipment, competition fees, music lessons, art classes, competitive club memberships and performance chances
- Health care: Medical, dental and orthodontic costs not covered by insurance, including expenses for specialized therapies like physical or mental health support
- Enrichment: Summer camps, international travel experiences, hobbies, cultural activities and advanced technology needs, such as laptops or special software
- Transportation: Significant travel costs for activities or when children move between homes, especially if distances are considerable
These costs often represent a substantial portion of a high-earning family’s child-related expenses.
Protecting your child’s stability
Your child’s daily routine and activity participation depend heavily on legal custody and physical placement decisions. Legal custody determines who makes important choices about your child’s upbringing. Physical placement defines where your child lives and how much time they spend with each parent. Both directly influence your child’s opportunities.
A well-crafted co-parenting plan is vital for all families, including high-income families. This plan helps you coordinate schedules for sports, arts programs and school events. It ensures your child experiences consistency, regardless of which parent they are with. You need clear agreements on making decisions for major expenses related to these activities, which might include private coaching fees, international competitions or specialized equipment.
A solid co-parenting plan includes clear communication rules. It also outlines ways to resolve disagreements. The plan should be flexible too, adapting as your child grows and their interests change.
Proactive legal guidance is crucial. It helps you create fair, comprehensive child support and co-parenting plans that protect both parents’ financial interests while ensuring the child’s well-being.