Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: Daycare expenses

If he is contributing to the daycare, he is entitled to the information.

Re: Daycare expenses

Whether you are required to give him information depends on a number of things.

First, if you have a divorce decree (I'm assuming you are divorced, and not merely living apart), then your decree may control. If the decree orders him to make a contribution to your day care expense by paying you personally, and not the day care center, then he is not automatically entitled to a record of your day care expenses, since the tax deductibility of the day care expense is already figured into the order directing him to reimburse you for day care expense.

If your support order is more than a year old, this may very likely be the case. Under the "old" law, only 75% of the day care expense was actually allocable between the custodial parent, and the noncustodial parent. This is because the law assumed you (the custodial parent) would essentially recoup 25% of your day care expense by being able to deduct the entire day care expense on your tax return. Thus, only 75% of your day care expense was actually divided between the parties. Under that circumstance, you have no obligation to give him any day care expense information. In fact, he could not claim a deduction, even if he was paying you a day care contribution, since the law presumes you are entitled to the entire deduction (and this is why only 75% of the day care expense was allocable between you -- if this is how the expense was handled in your decree).

Second, if he is paying day care directly, your expense is largely irrelevant, since only his payments are deductible.

Finally, despite all of the above, he is entitled know when there has been a change in your day care expense, since his share is then subject to modification -- and for this reason, he must be advised of any change in your day care expenses.

In general, I would give him the information -- but if he cannot deduct the expense (the first condition above), I would wait until after you file your tax return.

Good luck, and feel free to contact me if you have additional questions.