If you are in a position where you will pay or receive child support, this article will provide the basics of child support laws in the state of Minnesota. When talking to a Minnesota divorce or family law attorney, attorneys may often refer to our current law as the “new child support law,” as opposed to the old child support law. Well, the new endorsement law isn’t really that new. They went into effect in January 2007. So we’re actually four and a half years into the “new child support law.”
Briefly, the old support law, which was in effect from the early 1980s to 2007, essentially regulated the support obligor (the parent who paid the support), to pay support based on a percentage of that parent’s net income. Thus, the individual will pay 25% of his net income for one child, 30% for two children, 35% for three children, and so on. Again, this is based on net income determined after state and federal taxes are withheld, in addition to health insurance costs, reasonable retirement amounts, and union dues.
As of January 2007, the State of Minnesota was operating under a “new child support law.” Support is now based on the income of both parties and is based on gross income as opposed to net income. The amount of support to be paid is calculated by adding up the gross income of both parties to produce a “combined parental income to determine support”. This parental income is then divided between the parents based on their proportionate share of the parents’ combined income. In the Minnesota family law community, we often refer to this as each parent’s “PICS” income. The total amount of support payable based on the combined income of the parents, can be modified and increased annually and can currently be found in the chart at Minnesota Statute 518 A.35 Subd. 2.
The current support law also provides for “adjustments to parenting time”. The endorsement obligor gets a 12% reduction in his endorsement if he has parenting time with children more than 10% of that time. There is a presumption in law that parents have parenting time at least 10% of the time. Subsequent parenting adjustments are 45% of the time (i.e. parents must have parenting time with children at least 45% of the time to get a substantial reduction in child support). This adjustment of parenting time on 45% of the time, seems to be the proverbial “battlefield” in Court. What I mean by this, is if one parent has parenting time about 40% of the time, that parent will often struggle for the extra 5% of the time, as it can make a difference of several hundred dollars and even over a thousand dollars each month. as support.
In family law practice, compromise is sometimes reached when one parent has between 40% and 45% of the time parenting. In this case, the parties can “deviate” from the support guidelines, so there is no drastic impact if one parent does not have enough parenting time more than 45% of the time. In such cases, it is important, and necessary to fully explain to the Court why they deviated from the support guidelines and why such deviations are in the best interests of the children.
Minnesota’s current child support law also includes provisions for allocations to parents of health insurance premiums for children and out-of-pocket expenses for children. Fees for child health insurance premiums can be included directly in the obligor’s monthly allowance payment. Out-of-pocket fees are allocated based on each parent’s PICS income (as described above). Also, child care costs may be included in the calculation of support and included in the support obligor’s monthly child support payments. Typically, the support obligor will pay something less than his PICS income, to account for any child care credit benefits that the child support recipient (the parent receiving the child support) may be entitled to. Contributions to children’s health insurance contributions and contributions to child care costs are in addition to basic allowance obligations.
Child support can be relatively simple to calculate if both parents are W-2 employees and work 40 hours a week. The calculation of support can become more complex when one or both parents are self-employed or if one or both parents are unemployed or underemployed. It should be noted, however, that the Minnesota child support law provides for the presumption that each parent is able to work 40 hours a week for child support purposes. If the parent does not provide adequate documentation of his or her income, the Court may attribute “potential income” to the parent based on 150% of the federal minimum wage.
There are many intricacies of Minnesota’s child support laws that I won’t delve into in this article. However, as you may have noticed, it is more difficult as a Minnesota divorce attorney to notify a potential divorce client or child support client of his or her possible support obligations under current support laws. Prior to 2007, it was much easier for a Minnesota attorney to notify a client over the phone of an estimated expected support liability, based on a percentage of the parent’s net income.
One useful tool for parents who are curious about their possible support obligations, is the Minnesota child support calculator which can be found online (http://childsupportcalculator.dhs.state.mn.us/). But the support amount determined by the Minnesota child support calculator is only as good as the number entered into the calculator. It is important to seek advice from a Minnesota child support attorney if faced with a support process either through the Minnesota divorce proceedings or simply a separate support issue.