Child support can become a major source of distress during a divorce. That’s frequently because the custodial parent seeks an amount that the non-custodial parent thinks is unfair. However, Minnesota courts use a specific formula in order to determine how much child support should be paid. But what areas of child care does the court take into consideration before establishing this amount?
A family court in Minnesota uses the “income shares” method for figuring out child support and it will use three different components to help determine the amount of financial help needed for the child. The first part is known as basic support. As indicated, this portion of child support helps to pay for food, clothes and housing. Additional items such as transportation and education can also be used to help determine basic support.
The next part of the child support equation is medical support. This part can cover many different areas such as paying for dental and medical insurance or contributing to a portion of this care. It can also include paying for any medical or dental expenses that are not reimbursed as well as any uninsured expenses that the child may have.
The final component for determining child support is child care support. Child care support includes expenses needed to cover day care costs for the child. This can also include expenses that are generated from before school and after school care as well.
Determining the amount of child support during a divorce can be complicated. However, any Minnesota resident who may have to pay child support as the result of a divorce may want to speak to a child support attorney in order to get a better idea of the monthly amount that may be needed.
Source: mncourts.gov, “Child support“, Accessed Jan. 18, 2016