The Minnesota Child Support laws underwent a significant change in 2007.  The impact of this change is significant.  Under the old law, the parent who had physical custody of the children received child support.  Whether that parent (the physical custodian) worked or did not work had nothing to do with the calculation.

Today things are different.  Child support is based on the amount of parenting time each parent has. And both parents are expected to work.  If the person who has most parenting time is entitled to receive child support, he or she will receive less is he or she is not working.

The legislators who drafted the new child support statute believed that by linking child support to parenting time instead of physical custody, they would take away the conflict that frequently arose over custody.  They did.  Now the conflict is about parenting time.

The Minnesota child support statute requires a series of calculations.  They are not particularly complex, but they are a bit time consuming.  When I calculate child support, I use a computer program that is available on the Internet free of charge.

Here is a link to it: http://childsupportcalculator.dhs.state.mn.us/Calculator.aspx

Basically all you need to do if fill in the blanks.

If you have questions, feel free to call me at (952) 270-7700.