The law pertaining to calculation of child support in the State of Minnesota changed dramatically as of January 2007. Since this change was put in place, Minnesota law factors in the gross monthly incomes of both parties, the cost of health and dental insurance for the child/children, the cost of work or education related child care, the percentage of time with the child/children the non-physical custodian parent has, and other factors. Anyone may go to the website for the Minnesota Department of Human Services to read about child support. You (anyone) can also look at the guidelines calculator (on the MN DHS website) to examine how child support may be ordered in your case if you have the various requisite numbers to input.
Yes. The new child support laws came into effect in January 2007. So, we are actually over four and half years into the "new child support laws."
Briefly, the old child support laws, which were in effect from the early 1980s until 2007, basically provided for the child support obligor (the parent paying child-support), to pay child support based on a percentage of that parent's net income. Thus, the individual would pay 25% of his or her net income for one child, 30% for two children, 35% for three children, and so on. Again, this was based on net income which was determined after state and federal taxes were deducted, in addition to the cost of health insurance, a reasonable pension amount and union dues.
As of January 2007, the State of Minnesota has been operating under the “new child support laws.” Child support is now based on both parties' incomes and is based on gross income as opposed to net income. The amount of child support to be paid is computed by adding both parties' gross incomes together to come up with a "combined parental income for determining child 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 frequently refer to this as each parent's "PICS" income. The total amount of child support to be paid based on the parents combined parental income, may be modified and increased each year and can be currently found in a chart in Minnesota Statute § 518 A .35 Subd. 2.
The current child support laws also provide for a "parenting time adjustment." A child support obligor gets a 12% reduction in his or her child support if he or she has parenting time with the children in excess of 10% of the time. There is a presumption in the law that a parent has parenting time at least 10% of the time. The next parenting time adjustment is at 45% of the time (i.e. a parent must have parenting time with the children at least 45% of the time to get a substantial child-support reduction). This parenting time adjustment at 45% of the time, seems to be the proverbial "battleground" in Court. What I mean by this, is if one parent has parenting time of approximately 40% of the time, that parent often times will fight for an additional 5% of the time, because it can make a difference of several hundred dollars and even over a thousand dollars every month in child support.
I will often compromise with the other parent when we are in the area of parenting time between 40% and 45% of the time. In these cases, I may suggest that we "deviate" from the child support guidelines, so that there is not such a drastic impact if the one parent does not quite have parenting time in excess of 45% of the time. In such cases, it is important, and necessary to fully explain to the Court why we are deviating from the child support guidelines and why such a deviation is in the children's best interests.
Child support can be relatively simple to compute if both parents are W-2 employees and work 40 hour weeks. Child support computations can become more complex when one or both of the parents are self-employed or if one or both of the parents are unemployed or underemployed. It is worth noting, that the Minnesota child support laws provide a presumption that each parent is capable of working a 40 hour week for child support purposes. If a parent does not provide adequate documentation of his or her income, the Courts may impute “potential income” to that parent based on 150% of the federal minimum wage.
One useful tool for parents who are curious about their possible child support obligation, is the Minnesota child support calculator which can be found online (http://childsupportcalculator.dhs.state.mn.us/). However the amount of child support determined by the Minnesota child support calculator is only as good as the numbers that are put into the calculator.
I can't say how it works in California, because I'm not licensed there, but yes, Minnesota's system changed completely on January 1st, 2007. Under the new system, Child support pursuant to the Guidelines is based on the following factors:
1. The gross income of both parties.
2. The cost of work and education related child care.
3. The children's portion of the cost of medical and dental insurance.
4. The number of non-joint children of each party (entitles you to a discount).
5. Each party's percentage of parenting time (
