When is child support ordered?If a married couple with minor children are divorced or obtain a legal separation, a court must order one or both parents to pay child support. If a child's parents are not married, generally paternity must be established by court order or by the parents voluntarily executing a document called the Recognition of Parentage.
What does child support include?
Child support includes, at a minimum, basic support, which is an amount intended to feed, clothe and shelter the child; medical support; and work- or education-related child care costs. Child support also may include support arrears or reimbursement of public assistance payments made on behalf of the child.
Who pays child support, and who receives it?
"Obligor" is the legal term for the parent who pays money to the other parent or anyone else for the child's support. "Obligee" is the parent or other individual or entity who receives money on behalf of a child. Usually the obligee is the parent with whom the child lives, and obligor is the other parent. But sometimes parents have joint custody, each parent has custody of one or more of the couple's children, or the child is not in either parent's custody.
How is the child support amount calculated?
For actions or motions filed after January 1, 2007, the basic support obligation will be calculated based on the gross income of both parents. Gross income includes any form or periodic payment. Excluded from gross income are child support payments received by a party, public assistance, and in specific circumstances, overtime pay. Gross income does not include the income of an obligee's or obligor's spouse.
A deduction from gross income is allowed when a nonjoint child resides in a parent's household, and the parent is not obligated to pay child support. The resulting amount is the parental income available for child support (PICS).
After each party's parental income available for child support (PICS) is determined, the amounts are combined. The court must compare the total to the child support guidelines in the statute. Each parent is responsible for the percentage of the basic support obligation represented by his or her percentage share of the combined parental income available for child support (PICS). The obligor is allowed a parenting expense adjustment, based on the percentage of parenting time granted by the court.
After determining the support amount under the statutory guidelines, the court must consider several statutory criteria that allow it to depart from the guidelines amount. These criteria include the parents' earnings, income, resources, and debts, the child's, needs, the child's living standard before dissolution, and which parent receives the dependent income tax exemption. The court may reduce support payments for a low-income obligor.
Support orders entered prior to January 1, 2007 cannot be modified using the new guidelines until January 1, 2008, except under specific circumstances.
Financial Affidavit Required
If parents with joint children are parties to a court action involving child support, the law now requires that each parent complete a Financial Affidavit disclosing all sources of income. See the law at Minn Stat. 518A.28. Each parent must serve and file the Financial Affidavit with their initial pleadings or motion documents. A party must use the Financial Affidavit provided by the Department of Human Services, and the form can be downloaded from the DHS Website.
