• Obligations - In Minnesota, parents have a duty to pay for the support of their children.  Parents are also not free to stipulate to an approval of child support, court permission is required. As part of a dissolution, legal separation, or annulment, when minor children are involved, Minnesota courts must include an order that deals with the support of the minor children.

• Factors affecting amount of support - Child support is now calculated by the gross income of both parties, but includes deductions for the amount of parenting time.  Gross income is a broad definition of income which includes but may not be limited to salaries, wages, commissions, spousal maintenance payments received under a previous order or the current proceeding, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, annuity payments, military and naval retirement, pension and disability payments, Social Security benefits received by a parent based on the parent's own eligibility, and income from self-employment or operation of a business.

• Minnesota Child Support Calculator

• Deviation from Calculator - The calculations that result from use of the calculator are rebuttable.  Courts can apply factors that may increase or decrease the amounts.  Those factors include: 1) the earnings of the parties including real and personal property; 2) the financial needs and resources, physical and emotional condition, and the educational needs of the child or children to be supported; 3) the standard of living that the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved; 4) any government support that the child receives; 5) which parent receives the income tax dependency exemption; and 6) the parent’s debts.  Parties in Minnesota courts will be hard pressed in the majority of cases to deviate from the calculator.  Public policy is the primary reason, courts do not wish to create a situation where a child does not have proper support.  When in doubt the court will require the statutory calculated amount of payment for support.

• Seasonal Income - Individuals receiving seasonal income pose a difficult situation in determining the amount of support.  The difficulty is a result of great swings in income.  Construction workers as an example work during the summer months and receive unemployment during the winter months when laid off.  To also add to the confusion is that many of these seasonal workers work many hours in excess of overtime during the working season.  Courts will often take the total amount earned and average it for twelve months and calculate child support payments.  In some cases courts will use the earning capacity of an individual to determine child support.  Earning capacity is most often used when the court determines that the party’s income is kept low because of that party’s voluntary actions.

• Medical Insurance - Child support orders in addition to child support also address the issue of medical support for the child.  Under the new 2007 child support calculations the amount of medical support is determined by calculating the PICS (Percentage of Income to Determine Child Support)  The total amount of medical insurance or costs is divided by the percentage to determine the share each parent is to pay for medical support.

• Life Insurance - Minnesota courts have the power to order either parent to maintain life insurance policies in the amount equal to the child support payments due.  In the event of the death of the parent holding the life insurance policy the other parent is paid as the beneficiary.