Total MN Child Support = Basic Support + Medical/Dental Support + Child Care Support
Basic support is one of three components of child support in Minnesota. It is the part of child support designated for meeting the basic needs of the child. This includes food, clothing, and shelter.
Basic support is one lump amount and is designed to take care of the children’s basic needs. The paying parent only is required this basic support sum and not required to pay piecemeal for expenses for the children.
This means that the paying parent does not need to pay additionally for things like extracurricular expenses, entertainment expenses, or anything else related to basic needs. It is presumed that the basic support payment should cover these expenses and it’s up to the receiving parent to spend the money according to the best interests of the child.
Basic Support Calculations
Basic support is calculated primarily based on the income of both parents and the parenting time of both parents. It is typically, though not necessarily, the largest component of total child support when one parent has less than 45% of parenting time.
When parenting time is roughly equal, 45.1 to 54.9% for each parent, this amount drops dramatically. This is the reason why many couples fight over 50-50 parenting time.
The easiest way to visualize how basic support works is to experiment with the calculator on the MN Dept. of Human Services website. This calculator produces the guideline amount for child support that Judges generally accept as the proper amount for child support payments.
Basic support does not include medical and dental expenses, nor does it include child care expenses. These are the other two components of the total child support amount.
If you have more questions, please review the links to the left, head back to the MN Family Law Attorney home, or visit Majeski Law. If you’re interested in retaining an attorney, please feel free to email or call using the links in the upper right.