Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota
So my ex and I seperated in June and our divorce was finalized in September. When our divorce was finalized we agreed on no child support as our income was very close, and we had similar costs in daycare. The judge signed off on the order and that was that. The county is intervening stating that she was/is recieving assistnace and that child support needs to be paid. I understand why this is happening just need some help with understanding certain parts of it. It stated basic support of $76, which is fine, as I am making a little more than her (the percentages are 56% me, and 44% her). The part that stood out to me, was that it shows her paying monthly daycare of $460, which is actually our total monthly daycare bill. We have seperate daycares, mine charges $115 a week or $230 a month, and the same with hers. When the county stepped in, they did not indicate that I am paying anything for childcare, which obviously is not true. So they had that basic support plus i had $194 to pay for child care.
So what I am wondering is what might change that we have nearly identical daycare costs? Apparently hers is now at $135 per week or $270 a month, but she gets assistance for that, she only pays $35 co-pay.
I pay for medical/dental/vision, but she is getting Medical Assistance for her and my son.
I have no problem with basic support, but having to pay more for the child care seems weird. We have 50/50 joint and physical custody, i make a couple dollars more an hour than her, yet she gets all the assistance in the world, and not that I need it, but why can't I. I have applied to make it easier for me to live, but I make too much.
Oh and to add another thing, she has offered food assistance to me to help me out, which she cant do, and she even tried to talk me into going to the same daycare and talking with her social worker and make some adjustments that say I have my son less, and I would pay part of the $35 co-pay for child care. I am not a dead beat dad, and if I can do it, why cant she, especially with living with her parents?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The short answer is that the Minnesota child support calculator does not compute when each parent pays a part of the day care costs directly to day care providers. Usually when parents are each paying for their own daycare and they share parenting time 50/50, as a family law practitioner I do not include any daycare costs as a part of the child support calculator. In your case, however, the State of Minnesota wants a contribution from the other parent (you) for benefits paid to your former spouse.
You can run the numbers on the online calculator yourself to see how it all works. I recommend you run several scenarios so you can see how the County got its numbers (and how your side of the equation was not fairly considered) -
http://childsupportcalculator.dhs.state.mn.us
Is the medical/dental/vision you carry for son as well? You may need to bring a motion to modify the support. You can find the forms online at www.mncourts.gov I recommend that you fill out the forms as best you can and then meet with an attorney to review them before filing with the Court. The attorney you meet with will need to see your divorce decree as well as all documents from the County and all subsequent Court Orders.
What is interesting to me is that your support increased from $0 to $76 - the minimum adjustment in child support for a "substantial change in circumstances" is $75. Your spouse should have disclosed to you and the Court that she was receiving public benefits before your divorce was final.
Good Luck.
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