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Coffee with Claire #26 – Commonly Asked Questions Blog Series

September 10, 2018

How has Minnesota Child Support Changed?

Writer’s note: This blog series is meant to act as responses to “quick” questions you may have for attorneys.  Think of these answers as a “quick” answer you might receive over coffee from your friendly neighborhood attorney.

 

As of August 1, 2018, Minnesota has updated their child support laws.  The new law, Minn. Stat. §518A.34, has a few changes from the old law.

First, we’re going to count how many overnights out of 365 each parent has.  So, Parent A may have 226 overnights, then Parent B would have 139 overnights.  The old law only allowed for three possible categories (less than 10% parenting time, 10.1-45.1% parenting time, over 45.1% parenting time).

Second, if one parent has more than 55% of the time, they will not be required to pay child support.  Under the old law, sometimes even if a parent had more than 55% of the time, they would still have to pay child support.

Third, the parenting time, divorce, custody, or child support agreement must have either a parenting time chart, list percentages of parenting time each parent has, or both.  Under the old law, you could have an agreement that simply says both parents shall have parenting time, without including a schedule or basic time allotments.

There are also some similarities with the old law.

First, the basic child support calculation is based on each parents’ gross income.

Second, the medical child support is based on who carries medical/dental coverage for the child(ren) and what that costs the parent.

Third, daycare costs are also still included.  They must also be the costs actually incurred by the parent(s).

If you have questions about a child support proceeding, please contact Claire Tralle to set up a free initial telephone call.

 

The information in the Coffee with Claire series are intended to provide information only.  No legal advice is being provided or implied via this blog post.  No attorney-client relationship is formed by providing this information.  An attorney-client relationship with Tralle Law, LLC is formed only after a retainer contact is signed by all parties.