The right to child support and the responsibilities of parents to provide such support have been internationally recognized, though the laws governing child support vary from state to state. Child support includes the cost of housing and food, medical care, day care, clothing, transportation and other expenses such as recreation and leisure activities.
In Minnesota, family courts use the Income Shares Method to determine child support. The Income Method first calculates the amount of support that the child would get if their parents did not divorce. This calculated amount is the allocated to the parents according to their individual incomes and the percentage of overnights spent with each parent.
A parent’s legally required financial support to their child normally extends to the age of 18, but can be extended if the child has not graduated from high school, or even later if there s a special need for child support.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services has provided a on line child support calculator to help you estimate the right amount of child support. This calculator is for informational and educational use only and is not a substitute for the Minnesota Child Support Guidelines.
If this method of calculation confuses you, you are not alone! The calculation is often complicated because of one parent’s under-employment or unemployment, the extraordinary needs of a child, income from self-employment, or medical and day care expenses. The Minnesota Child Support Attorneys at Kallemeyn & Kallemeyn pride themselves on keeping up-to-date on changes in child support laws and decisions and we always keep our clients informed of their rights as custodial or non-custodial parents.
