Understanding Minnesota child support basics provides parents with foundational knowledge about how child support works, what obligations exist, and how the system ensures children receive appropriate financial support from both parents. Minnesota child support represents court-ordered payments designed to cover children's essential needs, including food, clothing, housing, and other expenses. Whether you're establishing a new child support order, receiving payments, or paying support to your child's other parent, knowing the basics helps you navigate the system effectively and fulfill your legal obligations.
Minnesota child support basics encompass how support orders are established, how the amount of child support is calculated using state guidelines, what components make up total support obligations, and how the system enforces payment when parents fail to pay child support as ordered. The Minnesota child support system operates through collaboration between courts, county child support offices, county attorneys, and the state Child Support Division to serve children's best interests.
What Is Child Support in Minnesota?
Child support represents court-ordered payments for the financial support of a child. Under Minnesota law, every child has the right to be financially supported by both parents regardless of the parents' relationship status or living arrangements. This legal obligation continues whether parents are married, divorced, separated, or never married to each other. Child support helps ensure children's basic needs are met and that both parents contribute financially to raising their children.
It's important to understand that child support differs from gifts or voluntary payments made for a child. Buying gifts, purchasing clothing, or paying for activities doesn't count as official child support unless it's part of a court order. Only payments made according to a court-ordered child support arrangement fulfill legal support obligations. Similarly, verbal agreements between parents about support aren't legally enforceable; only court orders create binding support obligations.
Child support also differs from spousal maintenance (alimony), which represents payments one spouse makes to support a current or former spouse. Child support is specifically for supporting children, while spousal maintenance addresses a spouse's living expenses. These are separate legal obligations with different calculation methods, enforcement mechanisms, and tax treatments.
Three Components of Minnesota Child Support
Minnesota child support orders include three distinct components, each addressing different aspects of children's needs. Understanding these three parts helps parents recognize what their total support obligation covers and how courts calculate the amount of child support they must pay.
Basic Child Support
Basic support covers children's fundamental day-to-day expenses, including food, clothing, housing, transportation, school supplies, and other routine costs of raising children. This represents the largest component of most child support orders and is the only part affected by parenting time arrangements. Courts recognize that parents who spend more overnights with children directly pay for food, clothing, and other expenses during their parenting time, so basic support is adjusted accordingly through the parenting expense adjustment.
Basic child support is calculated using Minnesota's income shares model, which considers both parents' incomes and determines a total support obligation based on how much families at that income level typically spend on children. This amount is then divided between parents based on their proportionate shares of combined income, with adjustments for parenting time.
Medical Support
Medical support addresses children's health care needs through two elements: health insurance coverage and unreimbursed medical expenses. Courts must order one or both parents to provide health insurance for children when coverage is available at a reasonable cost (generally meaning premiums don't exceed 5% of a parent's gross income). The cost of insurance premiums is divided between parents proportionately based on their incomes.
In addition to insurance premiums, medical support includes unreimbursed or uninsured medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance. These expenses, including deductibles, copayments, prescription costs, dental care, vision care, orthodontics, and counseling, are divided between parents according to their income percentages. If children receive Medical Assistance (Medicaid) or MinnesotaCare, court orders may include provisions for reimbursing the county for public assistance costs.
Child Care Support
Child care support covers costs parents incur for child care while they work or attend school. These expenses can be substantial, particularly for young children requiring full-time care. Courts divide actual child care costs between parents proportionately based on income, with the paying parent's share added to basic support as a separate line item in the support order.
Only work-related or education-related child care costs qualify for support; expenses for occasional babysitting for social activities don't count. Parents must document child care expenses with receipts or statements from providers showing costs and the care's relationship to work or school. Minnesota's guidelines account for federal and state child care tax credits when calculating each parent's share of expenses.
Support Component | What It Covers | How It's Calculated | Key Considerations |
Basic Support | Food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, and routine expenses | Income shares model; divided by income proportion; adjusted for parenting time | Only component affected by parenting time adjustment; the largest part of most orders |
Medical Support | Health insurance premiums; unreimbursed medical/dental expenses | Insurance costs and expenses are divided by the income proportion | Must order coverage when available at a reasonable cost (≤5% of income) |
Child Care Support | Day care and child care costs for work or school | Actual costs divided by income proportion; adjusted for tax credits | Must document expenses; only work/school-related care qualifies |
Who Can Receive Child Support
Parents or guardians caring for children can receive child support when specific conditions are met. To receive support, you must be the parent of a minor child or have court-ordered custody of the child, the child must live in your household, the child must be financially dependent on you, and one or both of the child's parents must be absent from the home. Additionally, a court must have ordered the absent parent to pay child support through a formal support order.
Third parties with legal custody of children, such as relatives, legal guardians, or foster parents, may also be eligible for child support from one or both parents. Courts can order parents to pay support even when children aren't living with either parent, recognizing that both parents retain financial obligations to their children regardless of custody arrangements.
Parents receiving public assistance for children automatically have child support cases opened by county child support offices. When parents receive benefits like Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), Medical Assistance, child care assistance, or other public programs, county attorneys initiate child support proceedings to help reimburse government costs and ensure parents fulfill their financial obligations.
How to Establish a Child Support Order
Child support doesn't automatically exist simply because parents have children; a court order must be established to create legally enforceable support obligations. Several situations can result in child support orders being established:
Courts address child support as part of divorce or legal separation proceedings when married couples with children end their marriages. The divorce decree includes child support provisions along with custody, property division, and other issues. Courts cannot grant divorces involving minor children until child support has been addressed.
For unmarried parents, child support can be established through paternity proceedings that determine legal fatherhood and set support obligations, through custody actions where parents establish formal custody arrangements and associated support orders, or through separate child support proceedings focused solely on establishing financial obligations.
Parents can apply for child support services through their county child support office by completing an application. County agencies provide comprehensive services, including locating absent parents, establishing paternity when necessary, determining appropriate support amounts using state guidelines, obtaining court orders for support, and enforcing payment obligations. For parents not receiving public assistance, there's typically a small application fee (around $35 annually), which can be deducted from support collected.
Ways Child Support Orders Are Established:
- Divorce or legal separation proceedings involving minor children
- Paternity actions establishing legal parenthood and support
- Custody cases where parents formalize custody and support arrangements
- Separate child support actions through county support offices
- Modification proceedings changing existing support orders
- Interstate cases when parents live in different states
Calculating Minnesota Child Support
Minnesota uses the income shares model to calculate the amount of child support parents should pay. This approach is based on economic research showing how much families at different income levels typically spend on children. The calculation considers both parents' incomes, the number of children needing support, and the parenting time each parent has with the children.
Parental Income for Determining Child Support (PICS)
The calculation starts by determining each parent's Parental Income for Determining Child Support (PICS). PICS begins with gross monthly income from all sources, including wages and salary, self-employment income, bonuses and commissions, rental income, investment returns, unemployment benefits, workers' compensation, Social Security benefits, military pay, spousal maintenance received from prior relationships, and any other regular income.
From gross income, certain deductions are made to arrive at PICS, including existing child support orders for other children, spousal maintenance paid to former spouses, and Social Security or Veterans Affairs benefits paid directly to children. The court doesn't count the new spouse's income if a parent has remarried, and public assistance benefits typically aren't included as income.
Potential Income
When parents don't work or earn less than they're capable of earning, courts may assign "potential income" based on what they could reasonably earn. Minnesota law presumes parents can work and earn income unless they prove they cannot due to physical or mental disability with medical documentation, incarceration, or receipt of cash assistance like MFIP or SSI.
For parents who are voluntarily unemployed or underemployed without good reason, courts calculate potential income using the parent's earning history and qualifications, or if no history exists, by assuming the parent could work 30 hours per week at minimum wage (federal or state, whichever is higher). This prevents parents from avoiding support obligations by refusing to work or deliberately earning less than their capabilities.
Self-Support Reserve
Minnesota child support guidelines include a self-support reserve ensuring that support obligations don't force paying parents into poverty. The self-support reserve equals 120% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, currently approximately $1,506 per month (this amount adjusts annually). The reserve is subtracted from the obligor's PICS when calculating support.
If requiring a parent to pay the guideline support amount would leave them with income below the self-support reserve, courts reduce the support obligation to preserve the reserve. If a parent's income falls below the self-support reserve entirely, they pay only minimum child support, ranging from $50 monthly for one child to $100 monthly for six or more children. Courts assume parents paying minimum support cannot afford medical or child care support.
Parenting Time and the Parenting Expense Adjustment
Parenting time, the amount of time children spend with each parent, significantly affects basic child support through the parenting expense adjustment. This adjustment recognizes that parents who have children for overnight visits incur direct expenses providing food, housing, clothing, and other necessities during their parenting time.
The adjustment applies when the obligor (parent paying support) has at least 10% parenting time with children, approximately 36 overnights per year. As the obligor's parenting time increases, the adjustment increases proportionately according to a formula specified in Minnesota Statutes Section 518A.36. The more overnights the obligor has, the lower their basic support obligation becomes.
For parents with approximately equal parenting time (45-55%), the parenting expense adjustment can substantially reduce or eliminate basic support obligations. However, if one parent earns significantly more than the other, support typically flows from the higher-earning parent to the lower-earning parent, even with equal time, ensuring children have comparable resources in both households.
Important Points About Parenting Expense Adjustments:
- Based on court-ordered parenting time, not actual time exercised
- Calculated using the number of overnights per year
- Only affects the basic support component, not medical or child care support
- Requires at least 10% parenting time (approximately 36 overnights yearly) to apply
- Daytime hours don't count unless specifically designated as "overnight equivalents" in court orders
- On August 1, 2018, the calculation method changed from percentage-based to an overnight-based system
- Parents with orders predating this change may request modifications if the new calculation would significantly change support
Role of County Child Support Offices
County child support offices provide essential services, helping parents establish, collect, and enforce child support orders. Every Minnesota county has a child support office, typically part of the county attorney's office, providing services mandated by state and federal law. These offices serve both custodial parents seeking support and non-custodial parents paying support.
County child support offices don't represent either parent in support proceedings. Instead, they represent children's best interests according to child support statutes and guidelines. This neutral role means the office works to ensure children receive appropriate support while ensuring calculations follow legal guidelines fairly for both parents.
Services Provided by County Child Support Offices:
- Locating absent parents whose whereabouts are unknown
- Establishing paternity for children born to unmarried parents
- Establishing initial child support orders using state guidelines
- Processing and disbursing child support payments through the Minnesota Child Support Payment Center
- Enforcing support orders when parents fail to pay
- Modifying orders when circumstances change substantially
- Providing information and assistance to both parents
- Working with other states on interstate support cases
- Collecting and distributing medical support and child care contributions
Parents can apply for county child support services regardless of whether they receive public assistance. The comprehensive services provided by county offices, at minimal or no cost, make them valuable resources for parents navigating the child support system, even when parents maintain generally cooperative relationships.
Minnesota Child Support Online (MCSO)
Minnesota Child Support Online (MCSO) provides a secure website where parents with child support cases can access case information, view payment history, make payments, and communicate with their county child support office. Both custodial and non-custodial parents can register for MCSO accounts by verifying their identity and creating login credentials.
Through MCSO, parents can review general case information, including current support obligations and past-due amounts, view detailed payment histories showing all payments made and received, make online child support payments using bank account information, update contact information, ensure important notices reach them, submit questions and requests to county child support workers, and access important case documents and notices.
The secure platform protects confidential information while providing 24/7 access to case data. Parents should never share their MCSO login credentials with anyone, as the system contains private information that should remain confidential. The website is occasionally unavailable during scheduled maintenance, with advance notice provided when possible.
Modifying Child Support Orders
Child support orders remain in effect as written until courts officially modify them, even when circumstances change dramatically. Either parent can request modification by filing a motion to modify child support with the court or by working through their county child support office if the office is involved in the case.
Courts generally modify support orders when circumstances have changed substantially, making the current order unreasonable and unfair. Common reasons for modification include significant income changes for either parent (at least 20% decrease), substantial changes in parenting time arrangements, changes in children's health insurance costs or availability, changes in child care expenses or needs, children's special needs emerging or changing, and cost-of-living increases over time.
Minnesota law creates a presumption that modification is appropriate when recalculating support using current circumstances would result in an amount differing from the existing order by at least 20% and $75 monthly. This threshold prevents frequent modifications for minor changes while ensuring substantial changes trigger appropriate adjustments.
Critical Facts About Modifications:
- Support obligations continue at the ordered amount until the court officially modifies the order
- Past-due support cannot be retroactively reduced or forgiven
- Modifications apply from the date motion is served on the other parent, not from when the circumstances changed
- Both parents must provide current financial information for modification proceedings
- County child support offices can assist with modifications in cases they're handling
- Parents can file their own modification motions using court forms
- Motion fees apply (approximately $100) unless the parent qualifies for a fee waiver
- Parents should act promptly when circumstances change, rather than simply stopping or adjusting payments
Enforcing Child Support Orders
When parents fail to pay child support as ordered, Minnesota provides numerous enforcement mechanisms to compel compliance and collect past-due support. Enforcement protects children's rights to financial support and ensures custodial parents receive the payments they need to care for their children.
County child support offices handle enforcement in cases they're involved with, using various tools including income withholding orders requiring employers to deduct support from wages, intercepting state and federal tax refunds to apply toward arrears, suspending driver's licenses and professional licenses until support obligations are met, placing liens on real and personal property including vehicles and real estate, reporting past-due support to credit bureaus damaging credit scores, publishing names of parents owing over $10,000 who cannot be located, and initiating contempt of court proceedings that can result in fines or jail time.
Interstate enforcement becomes necessary when parents live in different states. Minnesota participates in the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), providing mechanisms for establishing and enforcing support orders across state lines. County offices work with agencies in other states to locate parents, establish orders, and collect payments regardless of where parents reside.
Custodial parents need to understand that they cannot deny parenting time because support payments are overdue. Child support and parenting time are separate legal issues; courts don't allow one to be used as leverage against the other. Parents should work with county child support offices or courts to enforce support rather than taking matters into their own hands by withholding parenting time.
When Child Support Ends
Minnesota child support obligations generally continue until children turn 18 and graduate from high school, or until they turn 20, whichever comes first. This means support continues past age 18 if children haven't yet graduated, but ends at age 20 regardless of graduation status. Courts can order support beyond these age limits for children with disabilities, preventing them from being self-supporting.
Parents can voluntarily agree to continue support beyond statutory requirements, such as providing support through college graduation. However, courts cannot order parents to pay for children's college education unless parents have voluntarily agreed to do so. Post-minority educational support remains optional rather than mandatory under Minnesota law.