## Facts

- Pam Anita Cook filed for divorce from Roger Paul Cook in Green County Circuit Court; judgment was entered in 1995.
- The parties were married for 12 years and had two minor children (ages three and five at judgment); Pam was the custodial parent.
- Pam’s gross monthly income was $1,836, and she incurred more than $800 per month in childcare expenses.
- Roger received $1,212 per month in military retired pay and anticipated additional employment income of about $2,334 to $2,500 per month as a truck driver.
- The circuit court treated Roger’s military retired pay as a marital asset and divided the marital portion by awarding each party one-half of 11/23 of the monthly retired pay; the remaining 12/23 was awarded to Roger.
- In setting child support, the circuit court also treated Roger’s share of the military retired pay as “income,” including the portion concurrently divided as marital property.
- Roger appealed, arguing the retirement benefit was improperly “double-counted” as both property and income; the court of appeals affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether a divorce court may treat military retired pay as divisible marital property and also treat the recipient’s share of that pay as income for child-support calculations.
2. Whether considering the same retired-pay stream in both property division and child support constitutes impermissible double counting under Wisconsin law.

## Decision

- The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals and the circuit court.
- The court held that military retired pay is considered marital property for property division unless excluded by law.
- The court further held that the recipient’s portion of military retired pay may be treated as income when calculating child support.
- Treating military retired pay as both divisible property and income for support purposes is not impermissible double counting.

## Legal Principles

- Military retired pay must be treated as marital property for purposes of property division unless a legal exclusion applies.
- Child support serves a different function than property division and is based on a parent’s current and expected income and financial resources; an income stream tied to an awarded asset may be considered in support.
- An asset’s inclusion in property division does not bar counting payments from that asset as income for child-support calculations.
- Public policy favoring adequate support for minor children supports considering all relevant income sources, including military retired pay.

## Conclusion

Wisconsin law permits a divorce court to divide military retired pay as marital property and also to include the recipient’s portion of that retired pay as income when setting child support, because property division and child support serve distinct purposes and this approach does not constitute impermissible double counting.


Cook v. Cook, 560 N.W.2d 246 (Wis. 1997)