Often, people who divorce have young children who go to daycare during the day or after school. Daycare costs can be a significant part of a family budget, especially when families are divorced.
In Minnesota, divorce courts require each party to contribute towards daycare expenses and after school care expenses. As long as these expenses are either work-related or education-related, each party has to share in them. (If you hire a baby sitter because you are going out for a night on the town, your former spouse does not have to help pay for that expense.)
Calculation of reimbursement for daycare expenses and after school care expenses is part of the child support award, but the reimbursement amount must be specifically set forth in the divorce Judgment and Decree. Typically, each party is required to contribute towards daycare and after school care expenses based on a ratio of their respective incomes. If the income disparity between spouses (after including alimony or spousal maintenance) is, for example 60/40, then one spouse has to pay 60 percent of the daycare costs and the other spouse has to pay 40% of the daycare costs.
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to call me, attorney Dan Fiskum, at (952) 270-7700 to set up a free divorce case analysis. My office is conveniently located in the Carlson Office Towers at the intersection of Highway 494 and Highway 394, in Minnetonka, Minnesota. We are near the Ridgedale Shopping Center.