Why does paternity need to be established for my child?
A child born outside of marriage will not have a legal father unless a paternity acknowledgment form is filled out and filed with the vital statistics office or paternity is established through a court hearing.

It is in the best interest of the child to have paternity established as it creates the legal relationship between a child and his or her father, gives the child inheritance rights, access to future benefits through the father (social security, veterans benefits, etc.), and access to the medical history of the father.

If you receive any public assistance for your child, the State of Wisconsin requires you to cooperate with paternity establishment efforts. Failure to cooperate may result in your benefits being sanctioned.

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1. I have questions about custody or visitation - who can help me?
2. What if I lose my job?
3. How do I request a review of my child support order?
4. Is there a fee if I want to change my order?
5. Why does paternity need to be established for my child?
6. How can paternity be established?
7. I'm not sure the Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgement is right for me.
8. How do I schedule a paternity interview.
9. How does the father's name get on the birth certificate?
10. What if the mother is married, but her husband is not the father of her child?
11. I may be the father of a child born to a woman who is not married. Can I ask the department to start a paternity case?
12. What types of cases are appropriate for order establishment?
13. I no longer want to receive child support from the other parent - how can I stop my child support order?
14. My parental rights have been terminated by the court. Why am I still receiving billing statements?
15. My child has graduated from high school - how do I stop my support order?
16. Why am I still receiving billing statements when my child is over 19?
17. I am making payments on my child support arrears. Why are my taxes still being intercepted?
18. I am married and my spouse's refund is being intercepted for my child support arrears because we filed a joint tax return. How can we avoid this in the future?
19. Has an intercepted tax refund been paid on my arrears yet?
20. What is the fee for tax intercept service?
21. How do I report a change of address or new employer?
22. What is the R&D fee and why do I have to pay it?
23. What is the new $25 annual fee being charged to recipients of child support?
24. When should I contact the Wisconsin Support Collections Trust Fund (WI SCTF) regarding payments?