On January 1, 2007 a new child support law went into effect in Minnesota. At the most basic level, the new child support law is an income-shares model, which means the court will consider the income of both parties instead of just the non-custodial parent, and will also give credit for the amount of time the non-custodial parent spends with the children. The new law also changes how childcare and medical support are calculated.

If your case was commenced prior to January 1, 2007, the old child support guidelines may still be applicable in your case. However, in certain circumstances, the 2007 guidelines may be applied to a pre-2007 case. An attorney can help you determine whether the current or old guidelines are applicable to your case and how the changes may impact your case.

Child support now includes basic support, childcare support, and medical support, which are calculated as follows:

Basic support

Basic support is calculated by starting with the gross income of each parent, with any appropriate adjustments or deductions (such as for other children one parent has to support). The court will then combine the gross incomes to find the “Parental Income for Child Support”, or PICS. Then, this PICS amount will be applied to a table or chart to determine the total combined child support for both parents for the number of children who require support.

Next, the court will determine the percentage each parent’s gross income contributes to the total PICS amount. The court will then multiply each percentage times the total combined child support obligation to determine each parent’s share of that obligation.

Finally, the court will apply the Parenting Expense Adjustment. This is a credit for the amount of time the non-custodial parent (obligor) spends with the children. If the obligor spends less than 10% of the time with the child per month, then there will be no adjustment. If the obligor spends between 10% and 45% of the time with the child per month, his child support obligation will be reduced by 12%. If the obligor spends more than 45.1% of the time with the child, the court will presume the parent’s time with the child is equal.

This means that the court will now have to determine a percentage of parenting time the obligor has with the child so this Parenting Expense Adjustment can be applied. If the court does not specify a percentage, there is a presumption of 25% parenting time.

Child Care Support

The court will take the actual costs of child care, subtract the estimated amount of federal and state child care credit payable on behalf of the children, and the resulting amount will be the total child care cost that will be split between the parents.
The court will split the cost according to the same percentage contribution toward the PICS amount that the court used to determine basic support. In other words, if Mother has sole physical custody, and Mother’s income contributes 40% toward the PICS, with Father’s income contributing the other 60%, Father will pay Mother for 60% of the child care costs after adjustment for the estimated child care tax credits Mother will receive.

Medical Support

If the child is currently covered by health insurance, the court will order that the existing coverage continue, unless the parents agree otherwise or a parent requests a change and the other coverage is more appropriate.

If the child is not covered, the court will determine if either or both parents have appropriate coverage available to them. If only one parent has health insurance available to them, they will be ordered to maintain coverage for the child.

If both parents have available health insurance, the custodial parent (obligee) will generally be ordered to provide or continue coverage. However, there are some exceptions to this rule.

The cost of coverage will be split according to the percentage contribution toward the PICS amount that the court used to determine basic support. In other words, if Mother has sole physical custody, has health insurance available to her, and Mother’s income contributes 40% toward the PICS, with Father’s income contributing the other 60%, Father will pay Mother for 60% of the medical support costs

Any unreimbursed or uninsured expenses will be split in the same manner.

If neither parent has appropriate coverage, the court must order the parents to contribute to actual medical costs based on their percentage contribution to the PICS amount, or if the child is receiving Minnesota Care or Medical Assistance, the non-custodial parent (obligor) will be ordered to contribute to the cost of the public coverage.

Modification of Child Support under the New Law

The new law specifically states that there can be no modification of an existing support order during the first year of enactment (2007), except in the following circumstances:

1. there is at least a 20% change in the gross income of the obligor
2. there is a change in the number of joint children for whom the obligor is legally responsible and actually supporting;
3. the supported child becomes disabled; or
4. both parents consent to modification in compliance with the new income shares guidelines.

The enactment of the new law itself does not justify a modification of child support to comply with the new calculation. During that first year, there can be no modification under the new law unless one of the four factors above is true.

In addition to the old factors that state when there is a rebuttable presumption of a substantial change in circumstances that makes the original child support order unreasonable and unfair, the new law adds a further factor. The original order will be presumed to be unreasonable and unfair if the gross income of the obligor or obligee has decreased by at least 20% through no fault or choice of that parent.

Six Month Review Hearing

There will be a new six-month review hearing, which is intended to encourage people to comply with the support order. At this hearing, the court must review whether child support is current, and whether both parties are complying with parenting time provisions.

CASES GOVERNED UNDER THE PRE-2007 CHILD SUPPORT LAW

If your case is governed under the pre-2007 child support law, child support will be calculated by taking the non-custodial parent’s monthly net income from all sources, determining the number of children who are entitled to support by that obligor, and then using a table or chart provided in a Minnesota statute to determine the percentage of that obligor’s net income that will be paid for child support.

For example, if an obligor has a net income of over $1000 per month, and has two children, the obligor will pay 30% of his net income for child support. Under the old guidelines, there is no consideration given for the obligee’s income or the amount of time the obligor spends with the children unless the Court is deviating from the guidelines. Child support was based almost entirely on the net income of the obligor.

Once child support is calculated, the court will order the obligor to pay the appropriate amount. Depending on the circumstances, the court may order the obligor to pay child support directly to the obligee, or it may order that child support be automatically withheld from the obligor’s paycheck and sent by the county to the obligee.

Child support will not automatically increase or decrease if an obligor’s income increases or decreases. Rather, a motion to modify the child support obligation must be brought and evidence presented of the change in circumstances. 

Child Support in Joint Physical Custody Arrangements

When a court awards joint physical custody to the parents, the court will use a special formula to determine child support. This formula is called the Hortis/Valento formula.

The Hortis/Valento formula uses the net income of both parents as well as the percentage of time each parent has custody of the children in order to determine appropriate child support payments. Simply put, each parent will pay guidelines child support reduced by the percentage of time the children are in their custody. The parent who has the greater child support obligation will pay the other parent the difference between their child support obligation and the other parent’s obligation.

For example, if there is one child, Mother earns $4000 net income per month, and Father earns $2000 net income per month, Mother’s guideline child support obligation would be 25% of $4000, or $1000 per month, while Father’s guideline child support obligation would be 25% of 2000, or $500 per month. If they both had equal custody of the child, then Mother would pay the difference between her greater child support obligation and Father’s lesser obligation to Father. Mother would pay Father $500 per month.

However, if Mother has the child for 60% of the time, and Father has the child for 40% of the time, the calculation changes.

Now, Mother’s guidelines obligation is multiplied by the percentage of time the child is in Father’s custody. Mother’s child support obligation would be $400 ($1000 x 40%). An easy way to understand this is to see that Mother’s child support obligation is actually reduced by the percentage of time the child is in her custody, since she does not have to pay child support when she is caring for the child herself. Since she has the child for 60% of the time, her obligation of $1000 is reduced by 60%, or $600. Therefore, she only is obligated for $400 of child support.

In this same situation, Father’s guidelines obligation is multiplied by the percentage of time the child is in Mother’s custody. Father’s child support obligation would be $300 ($500 x 60%). In this situation, Mother would only pay Father $100 (the difference between their child support, or $400 - $300).

Your attorney can help you determine what you can expect to pay under this formula if an award of joint physical custody is ordered.

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