How to Calculate Child Support Payments in Minnesota

Minnesota has child support guidelines that parents and judges use to calculate the right amount of support in a particular case. The guidelines are based on the principle that children have a right to financial support from both parents, even when their parents don't live together.

How to Calculate Child Support Under Minnesota's Child Support Guidelines

To calculate the amount of support under Minnesota's current child support guidelines, you can use the state's official Child Support Guidelines Calculator.

Minnesota's guidelines take into account many factors, including:

• both parents' income
• the number of joint children who need to be supported
• each parent's responsibility for supporting children from other relationships
• spousal support orders ("alimony") for either parent
• certain Social Security and Veterans Administration benefits
• health and dental insurance costs
• child care costs
• court-ordered parenting time, and
• whether a parent is incarcerated.

Learn more about child custody and child support in Minnesota, including what gets counted as income when calculating support.

(Minn. Stat. Chapter 518A (2024).)

Are Other Child Support Calculators Accurate?

Watch out for websites with so-called child support calculators for Minnesota. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that these calculators are accurate and up-to-date. Minnesota updates its child support guidelines regularly, and you usually can't tell whether any of these websites have kept up with the latest changes.

It's best to stick with the official state calculator to get the most accurate amount of child support you may pay or receive. Be aware, however, that this will be an estimate only and isn't a guarantee of the amount of child support a judge will order. As explained below, the judge may order a different amount in your case.

When Child Support May Be Different than the Guidelines Calculation

Minnesota judges typically must order the amount of support calculated by the guidelines. Still, judges can deviate from the guidelines when it's in the child's best interests.

When deciding whether to deviate, judges must consider certain factors, including:

• each parent's earnings and resources, including real estate and personal property
• any extraordinary needs—financial, physical, emotional, and educational—of the child
• the child's standard of living if the parents were still living together
• which parent claims the child as a dependent for tax purposes
• the parents' debts, and
• whether the paying parent's court-ordered support is higher than Minnesota's limitation on wage garnishment.

(Minn. Stat. §§ 518A.35, 518A.43 (2024).)

How to Apply for Child Support in Minnesota

If you're filing for divorce or legal separation in Minnesota, you can request child support as part of that process.

You can also apply for child support services through your county child support office. The agency can help you establish a support order and establish parentage if you aren't married to your child's other parent.

How to Collect Child Support in Minnesota

Most child support orders in Minnesota include an income withholding order, which requires employers to take support payments directly from the paying parent's paycheck.

If you're having trouble collecting support payments, your local child support office can help you enforce the order using one or more of the following actions:

• intercepting income tax refunds
• reporting the debt to credit bureaus
• placing liens on or seizing financial assets
• passport holds
• student grant holds, and
• license suspensions (including driver's, professional, and recreational).

If you're having trouble making child support payments, contact your child support worker to set up a payment plan or request a modification to avoid enforcement actions.

How to Change the Amount of Child Support

In Minnesota, child support orders can only be changed by a judge or by a cost of living adjustment.

For a judge to modify your order, you must show that something has happened since your last order that makes the order unreasonable and unfair, such as a significant change in:

• income (including job loss)
• expenses
• health insurance (cost or availability)
• child care (cost or needs), or
• custody arrangement.

You also have a right to ask your county child support office to review your support order. If you meet the criteria for a modification or you and the other parent agree on the change, your child support worker will move forward with the request. If you aren't eligible or would rather handle it on your own, you can file a motion to modify support.

(Minn. Stat. § 518A.39 (2024).)

Getting Help With Child Support

Calculating child support is complicated. The Minnesota Department of Human Services offers resources to help you establish and modify an order. You can also find helpful information on the Minnesota Judicial Branch page on child support or at a Minnesota District Court Self-Help Center.

If you and your co-parent can't agree on child custody, support, or both, you might need a lawyer's help. An experienced lawyer can answer your questions, help you negotiate an agreement that works for you and your child, and advocate for you in court if it comes to that.