Child support calculations include both parents’ incomes

New law could mean less support required

By Susan Larson | The Daily Journal

Published Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Payments could decrease for some non-custodial parents under the new method for calculating child support, enacted Jan. 1. For some, it could also go up, a local child support official said.

“Is it going to make a lot of difference? Who knows?” Otter Tail County Collection Services Supervisor Brooks Andersen said. “We don’t really know what’s going to happen yet because we’ve never dealt with this system before.”

The monthly gross income of both parents is now used to calculate child support; the old formula was based on a percentage of the non-custodial parent’s income.

“It’s just a way of trying to simplify the process,” Andersen said. “The Legislature hopes it will make it a more fair process for parents. They tried to make it so everyone can understand the system.”

There are 2,400 families served by child support in Otter Tail County, Andersen estimated. About 70 percent of those cases are in some form of arrears.

“The state has a boatload of arrears that are owed and are uncollectable. Many of the people we try to collect from don’t have the ability to pay what they’ve been court ordered to pay, for whatever reason. Maybe they have drug problems. Maybe they’re incarcerated, maybe they’re out of work. If they feel they can’t make the payments, they need to talk to their caseworker or the Fathers’ Resource Office.” Call 739-3011, or 877-882-9576 for more information.

A parenting deduction is another major change to the system.

“If the child spends 15 to 45 percent of (his/her) time with the parent — it has to be overnight and court ordered — that results in a 12 percent reduction in the non-custodial parent’s payment,” Andersen said. “The reason for that is when the child is spending time with the non-custodial parent, that parent is spending money on the child.”

Non-joint children (another set of children a parent may have from another relationship or marriage) are now factored into the payment equation. They previously were not unless it was court ordered.

The changes apply to cases filed with the court after Jan. 1, 2007, and does not automatically change existing support orders. There is a moratorium on modifications to child support orders for all of 2007.

“We can’t have everyone who has a court order coming in asking for a change,” Andersen said.

The following exceptions apply:

• There must be a 20 percent change of the obligor’s gross income if the employment change is non-voluntary.

• A change in the number of joint children.

• Child care cost change.

• Health care cost change.

• Consent by both parents.

The State of Minnesota Child Support Division bases the Child Support Guidelines “calculator” on the Minnesota Child support guidelines statute. By going to www.dhs.state.mn.us, the amount of child support the court may order on a case can be estimated. The calculator is for informational and educational use only and is not a substitute for the child support guidelines. The court has the final authority to determine the amount of a child support order.