503 N.W.2d 280 (Wis. App. 1993)
Sharon Brown and Sheldon Brown married in 1984 and had one child, who is still a minor.1 They were divorced in 1987, and Sheldon was required to pay 17% of his gross income for child support pursuant to the general percentage standards in § HSS 80.2 Sheldon remarried and has three minor children from his second marriage. His second marriage is still intact.3
Sheldon brought a motion under sec. 767.32, Stats., to modify his child support due to the fact that he has minor children in his second family. He requested that the court utilize § HSS 80.04(1), the "serial family payer" provisions of the percentage standards in resetting his child support obligation for his first child.4 The family court commissioner determined that the "serial family payer" provisions did not apply and refused to modify the existing support order. Sheldon appealed to the circuit court, which ruled that the "serial family payer" provisions applied to Sheldon. It therefore reduced his child support obligation from 17% to 12.1%.5
Sharon appeals that order.6
Whether Sheldon Brown is a serial family payer under Wis. Adm. Code § HSS 80.02(21)?7
Under Wis. Adm. Code § HSS 80.02(21), a serial family payer is a payer with an existing child support obligation who incurs an additional child support obligation in a subsequent family or as a result of a paternity judgment.8 The additional obligation must result from a court order. The support obligation being calculated must be for children from a subsequent family or subsequent paternity judgment.9
No. Sheldon Brown has an existing child support obligation for the one child from his first marriage. He has incurred no additional child support obligation by court order because his three minor children are from an intact second marriage. The motion under sec. 767.32, Stats., seeks to modify the existing order for the first child rather than to establish support for children from a subsequent family. The regulation's two required elements are therefore absent on these facts.10
Sheldon Brown does not qualify as a serial family payer.11
Whether the serial family payer formula in Wis. Adm. Code § HSS 80.04(1) may be used to modify an existing child support order for a child from the payer's first marriage?12
The serial family payer formula in Wis. Adm. Code § HSS 80.04(1) applies only when the payer incurs an additional child support obligation by court order in a subsequent family or by paternity judgment. The support being calculated must be for children from that subsequent family or judgment. The formula is not available to reduce support for children of the initial family.13
No. The formula may not be applied because Sheldon Brown's additional children are in an intact marriage without a court-ordered support obligation. The requested modification concerns support for the child of the first marriage rather than support for subsequent children. Application of the formula on these facts would produce the absurd result of allowing payers to reduce original support obligations simply by having more children in a later intact family. This result is contrary to the uniform predictability the percentage standards were designed to achieve.14
The serial family payer formula may not be used to modify the existing child support order.15