The new child support law that went into effect in August 2018 addresses basic child support, child care support and medical support, just like the previous law did. The new law also is silent about many of the children’s expenses – such as extracurricular costs – just like the previous law was.

The reason is simple. The child support statute provides for a monthly sum to be paid from one parent to the other. It contemplates that the children’s day-to-day living expenses will be properly covered by the parents once the monthly support obligation has been conveyed by the obligor parent to recipient parent. But what if they aren’t?

The new law calculates child support such that the more parenting time an obligor parent has, the less that parent pays to the other parent. So it stands to reason that the more parenting time an obligor parent has, the more that parent pays the kids’ day-to-day expenses in real time.

If the obligor has no parenting time, then there is no parenting expense adjustment downward with the expectation that the obligor parent covers other expenses. But if the obligor has parenting time, and therefore there is a parenting expense downward, the parents should probably have a mutual understanding and expectation regarding what contributions the obligor parent will make to day-to-day expenses, such as clothing, school lunches, and cell phones.

There are two bills that have been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature.  One would establish a permanent advisory committee on child support guidelines.

The other one is a bigger substantive change.  Child support would be calculated based on the income shares of the parents, like it is now.  But the parenting expense adjustment would be much more variable than the current statute.

Currently, there are only three parenting expense adjustments: one for cases in which parents share custody equally (or nearly equally); one for cases in which one of the parents has little or no parenting time with the child(red); and one for all other cases.

The new statute would create a graduated parenting expense adjustment based upon the specific parenting schedule.  The adjustment would be based on the number of overnights each parent is the on-duty parent over the course of the year.

I am concerned that the new statute will create a bigger issue for parents to dispute.  Many times separated parents argue over custodial time, not because of what is good for the children, but because of the impact is has on the amount of child support.  Under the current structure, this issue (to fight about) is only regarding whether the threshold for “nearly equal” parenting time has been met.  Under the new statute, that issue could be a bone of contention in many more instances, because any change to the number of overnights results in a change in the amount of child support.

The bill was to be heard in legislative committees this past week.  Watch this space.

The Minnesota legislature recently amended the statute that courts use when imputing income to parents.

Minn. Stat. Section 518A.32, sub. 2(3) now provides for considering “the amount of income a parent could earn working 30 hours per week at 100 percent of the current federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher.”  Previously the statute had a provision for the amount of income a parent could earn working 40 hours per week at 150 percent of current minimum wage.

The previous statute’s calculation of monthly income was $2,080.  The amended statute provides for one-half that amount, suggesting that in today’s economy, one can be expected to earn $1,040 gross per month.

There is change in the air, as it pertains to calculating child support in Minnesota. Currently, child support is calculated based upon the combined income of two parents, and a computation of fixed child support based upon each parent’s share of combined income.  If the children reside primarily with one parent, the non-custodial parent pays a certain sum of support figured by considering the number of children, the parents’ combined income, and the non-custodial parent’s share of the parents’ combined income.

Where the change may come is how the parenting schedule factors into the child support calculation.  Currently, there are three options, based upon how much parenting or custodial time the child support obligor has with the children.  Zero to ten percent; ten to forty-five percent; and more than forty-five percent. A parent’s obligation is reduced (by 12%) if he or she has parenting time more than ten percent of the time.  There is no reduction if one’s parenting time is less than ten percent.  If one’s parenting time is greater than 45 percent, that is considered essentially 50-50 custody, and child support is calculated in a starkly different manner, usually resulting in a much lower sum of support paid from one parent to the other.

The options have been called “cliffs” because there is a big difference between having your kids twelve percent of the time and having your kids forty percent of the time; yet the child support is calculated the same in either instance.

This version of the statute has been in place for several years, and I have found it to be a user-friendly system for parents, attorneys and judges.  Under the previous statute, even small changes in the parenting schedule had an impact on the amount of child support.  Therefore, parents would haggle over one or two overnights per month in order to influence the calculation of child support.  Under the current statute, there is no incentive to haggle except in the relatively unusual circumstance of butting up against the ten percent or forty-five percent thresholds.

The change that is being considered is to bring back the graduated schedule that would factor into the calculation small changes in the parenting schedule.  That model of child support calculation has found favor in Oregon, where it has been in effect for some time.  It is surprising to me that making the change from “cliffs” to the graduated calculation based upon small increments of parenting time has not been troublesome.  I would expect it to cause more haggling between parents over the parenting schedule.  Here’s hoping if Minnesota makes the change, Minnesota doesn’t regret it.

The current child support statute authorizes the family court to impose upon parents an income threshold. That is, if the parent is able to work, the court may impute income to that parent in the amount of 150% of minimum wage, assuming 40 hours per week of employment. Child support is supposed to be calculated by factoring in both parents’ incomes, so if a parent does not have income, by choice, then the court has the authority to calculate child support as though that parent has income.

The statute may be amended to reduce the court’s imputation of income, basing the income threshold on minimum wage (100%) instead of 150% of minimum wage, and basing the threshold on 30 hours of work per week instead of 40. The revised factors probably more accurately reflect what one actually experiences when seeking general employment prospects. If passed, the new legislation would take effect in 2015.