Minnesota Child Support Guidelines Calculator Glossary

Choose Yes if the Child Care Assistance Program pays all or a portion of the child care costs for the nonjoint child(ren).

Costs paid by public assistance should be included in the total amount paid.

If child care costs vary during the year, use the total yearly child care costs and divide by 12 to determine the average monthly cost. The calculator assumes the parent who takes on the child care expense is the custodial parent.

The calculator is only able to calculate child care support costs for one parent.

Child(ren)'s Social Security/Veterans Benefits due to a Parent's Eligibility is the monthly Social Security or Veterans Benefits amount provided for the joint child(ren). The amount of the benefit provided for a child is included in the gross income of the parent on whose eligibility the benefits are based. Any benefit amount due to the disability of a child(ren) is not part of gross income.

Enter the child(ren)'s benefit amount in the column of the parent on whose eligibility the benefits are based.

Enter the actual cost of dental coverage for the joint child(ren) if it is a separate amount from other health care coverage. Enter the amount in the column of the parent who provides the coverage.

The IV-D case number is a 12 digit number.

This is not a form of health care coverage. If either parent pays for health care coverage, select No.

Gross income does not include child support received by a party, a spouse's income or public assistance benefits.

The Monthly Income Received includes any form of periodic payment to an individual including, but not limited to, salaries, wages, commissions, spousal maintenance payments received under a previous order or the current proceeding, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, annuity payments, military and naval retirement, pension and disability payments, Social Security benefits received by a parent based on the parent's own eligibility, and income from self-employment or operation of a business.

Use gross salary and gross wage amounts before any deductions and before participation in any employer-sponsored benefit plan that allows an employee to pay for a benefit or expense using pre-tax dollars.

Multiply weekly income by 4.33 to arrive at a monthly amount.

Self-Employment Income: Income from self-employment includes operation of a business and joint ownership of a partnership or closely-held business. Income means gross receipts minus costs of goods sold minus ordinary and necessary business expenses required for self-employment or business operation. Self-employment does not include accelerated depreciation (§179), investment tax credits or other business expenses that are inappropriate or excessive. Business expenses that are allowable by the IRS are not necessarily business expenses for child support purposes.

A parent may receive a deduction for nonjoint children. If the parent is ordered to pay a support order, the deduction is the amount of the support order and should be entered on line 11 of the Minnesota Child Support Guidelines Calculator. If the parent is not ordered to pay a support order for other nonjoint children, they may also receive a statutory deduction. Enter the number of children without a support order on line 12 of the Minnesota Child Support Guidelines Calculator.

A Stepchild(ren) is not considered a nonjoint child(ren).

Enter the name of the parent with the least number of court-ordered overnights in the “Parent A” field.

If parenting time is equal, Parent A is the parent with the higher income.

Enter the name of the parent with the greatest number of court-ordered overnights in the “Parent B” field.

If parenting time is equal, Parent B is the parent with the lower income.

Percentage of Parenting time is the amount of time the child(ren) is scheduled to spend with a parent according to a court order.

If there is a court order awarding parenting time, enter the appropriate percentage range

Potential Income is defined as a parent who is voluntarily unemployed, underemployed or employed on a less than full-time basis, or if there is no direct evidence of any income, potential income may be used. This is in addition to any monthly income received. There is a presumption that a parent can be gainfully employed on a full-time basis.

Potential income is determined by one of three methods: 1) the parent's probable earnings level; 2) if the parent is receiving unemployment or workers' compensation, income may be calculated using the actual amount of the benefit received; and, 3) the amount of income the parent could earn working 30 hours at 100 percent of the current federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher.

Social Security benefits or Veterans' benefits received by one parent as a representative payee for a joint child due to the other parent's disability or retirement are subtracted from the other parent's net child support obligation.

Spousal maintenance is included in the gross income of the party that receives it.

Spousal maintenance is a deduction from gross income for the parent who is ordered to pay it.

If Parent A pays spousal maintenance to Parent B:

Enter the amount Parent A pays in line 10 and enter that same amount as part of Parent B's monthly income received (line 6).