Determining Child Support Amounts

In most cases, the court will use the child support guidelines to determine the appropriate amount of support. In some cases:

• The court may deviate from the guidelines when determining the amount of child support.
• The court may order the child support to be reserved for a designated period of time. This means no monthly support is due until the case is reviewed again, usually a set time in the future.
• If the parties have an agreement, the court reviews the agreement to make sure the guidelines are applied correctly and the child support amounts are appropriate.
• When parents share custody or have relatively equal parenting time, the court often will use the guidelines to determine support. Given the uniqueness of these cases, the court may deviate from the guidelines to determine the amount.

Minor parents

When parents are under age 18 or legally declared a minor, the court appoints a guardian ad litem for each parent. The guardian ad litem represents the interests of the minor parents. Depending on their circumstances, minor parents may be ordered to pay a minimal amount of child support or the support may be reserved.

Guidelines

When setting a support obligation, the court uses the Minnesota child support guidelines that are in state law. The guidelines are a formula used to calculate support obligations. They are reviewed every four years and they help determine support amounts using the:

• Income of both parents
• Number of children
• Cost of raising a child at different income levels
• Availability and cost of medical support.

The guidelines are used to determine basic, medical and child care support. The court may deviate from the guidelines in certain circumstances.