Minnesota Divorce and Family Law Blog

Parenting Expense Adjustment to Child Support

The current Minnesota child support law factors into its calculations the fact that the child support obligor incurs expenses when caring for the child(ren).  The child support statute provides a parenting expense adjustment in which the basic support calculated based upon the income of the two parents is reduced by twelve percent (12%).  The adjustment applies to all cases except those in which the payor parent has (a) very little access to the child, or (b) access to the child that is nearly equal to the other parent.  As long as the child spends between ten percent (10%) and forty-five percent (45%) of time with the payor parent, the 12% reduction applies. (As an example, a non-custodial parent who has parenting time one day per week, or alternating weekends, meets the 10% threshold.)  The applicable parenting schedule must be in a written court order in order for the parenting expenses adjustment to be implemented.

If the payor parent has the child(ren) in his or her care for more than 45% of the time, a very different calculation of child support applies.  In these cases, the custodial arrangement is commonly termed "joint physical custody," because the child spends substantial residential time in each home.  In those cases, generally the child support obligation is substantially less than it would otherwise be.  However, in such circumstances, it is expected that the payor parent will contribute directly to other expenses of the child(ren), such as clothing and extracurricular activities. Such a living arrangement for the child(ren) would reflect that the parties have the ability to cooperate in co-parenting, and therefore to also cooperate in fairly incurring and allocating the parenting expenses.   

Custody of a Child of Unmarried Parents

From the time that a child of unmarried parents is born until a child custody order is issued by the family court, the mother has custody. As mentioned in a previous post, a Recognition of Parentage signed by both parents provides a basis for an unmarried father to obtain parenting time or custody of a minor child. However, a father who has signed a Recognition of Parentage form must obtain a court order (at a family court hearing, or by stipulation with the mother) for his parenting time or custody to be binding on the mother, and enforceable by the family court and other authorities, such as police officers.

The distinction that the mother has custody is moot if the mother and father are together. The legal conflict is most likely to arise when the couple separates. Obviously, before the couple separates, there is not the clear need for a court order designating custody and parenting time. Upon separation, the parent who does not have the child in his or her care, and who does not have the agreement and cooperation of the other parent, will need a court order to give him or her the right to access to the child.