One of the most interesting and fundamentally earthshaking developments to take place in family law in the last ten years was the enactment of the new Minnesota child support law.  Effective January 1, 2007, courts began applying what is often referred to the “income shares” model.  While the law has generated considerable discussion, both positive and negative, few people actually seem to understand how it works.

At its most basic, the new child support law considers both parents incomes in determining the child support obligation.  The gross income of both parents is added together to determine the “parental income for child support” or PICS.  This figure is then used (along with the number of minor children) to determine the parties’ combined child support obligation.  In theory, this figure represents the total amount of joint money that is supposed to be spent on the children each month.

The combined child support figure is then divided between the parties.  It is divided based upon the party’s percentage of the PICS.  For example, if a husband earns $6,000 per month and a wife earns $4,000 per month, the PICS would be $10,000.  If the total child support obligation were $1,600 per month, husband would be responsible for sixty percent (or $960) and wife would be responsible for forty percent (or $640).

The noncustodial parent is also generally entitled to a parenting expense reduction.  A parenting expense reduction is the legislature’s recognition that noncustodial parents spend money on their children during their parenting time.  Thus, an individual’s child support payment is reduced by the amount of time that the parent has with the children.  Under the law, parents fit into one of three categories.  The first category is reserved for parents who have parenting time with their children less than ten percent (10%) of the time.  These parents receive no reduction.  The second category is for parents who have parenting time with their children between 10% and 45% of the time.  These parents receive an automatic twelve percent (12%) reduction in their child support obligation.  The third category is for parents who have parenting time with their children between 45% and 50% of the time.  These parents have their child support obligation roughly cut in half.

In addition to basic monetary support, the term child support also includes medical support (health insurance coverage) and child care support (daycare).

PLEASE BE ADVISED that this explanation is somewhat oversimplified.  Contact your attorney to discuss these issues in more detail.

Is the New Law Better for Me?

It’s tough to say.  From our experience, the new law seems to work better in some cases and seems to work worse in other cases.  The answer is not always intuitive.  Ask your attorney to run the numbers for you to determine whether applying the new law in your case would result in a fairer obligation. 

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Gadtke & Beyer, LLC
6600 France Avenue South Suite 680
Edina, MN 55435

Telephone: 952-345-8004
Fax: 952-920-2209

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