We Need Your Input on Minnesota's Child Support Guidelines

Respond by Sept. 15

Minnesota's child support program helps children receive the financial support they need. County child support agencies and the Minnesota Child Support Division (CSD) work with parents, caregivers, employers, government agencies, and other states to establish and enforce child support. CSD is reviewing Minnesota's child support guidelines and wants your feedback. Minnesota’s child support guidelines use a formula to help determine how much a parent should contribute to support their children and are designed to share the financial responsibility of raising children between both parents.

A survey link appears at the bottom of this page.

Who Should Participate?

We encourage you to share your thoughts if you are:

• A parent or caregiver who receives child support.
• A parent or caregiver who pays child support.
• A community organization that works with families involved in the child support program.
• Anyone interested in Minnesota's child support program, even if you are not currently part of the program.

*The survey is anonymous.

About Minnesota's Child Support Guidelines

Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. § 518A.34) includes child support guidelines that courts use to calculate child support orders. The guidelines provide a formula that helps determine the amount of support based on several factors, including:

• Each parent's income.
• The number of joint children covered by the support order.
• Other children a parent is legally responsible for supporting.
• The cost of raising children at different income levels.
• The availability and cost of health care coverage.

Reviewing the guidelines

Federal and state law require Minnesota's Child Support Division to review these guidelines every four years to determine whether they continue to produce fair and appropriate child support orders. The current review covers child support orders effective between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2025. The Child Support Division conducts the review and produces a final report.

The review includes:

• An analysis of four years of child support case data.
• An analysis of Minnesota's economic conditions and how they affect the child support guidelines.
• Surveys of parents, caregivers, and child support professionals.
• Public feedback through this online engagement opportunity.

Important Information About the Guidelines

Minnesota made significant changes to its child support guidelines that took effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

The state updated the basic support table that courts use to calculate child support. This was the first update to the table since Minnesota adopted the income shares model in 2007. The new table:

• Uses updated information about the cost of raising children.
• Adjusts support amounts for families with a combined monthly income of $6,000 or less.
• Addresses issues that affected lower-income families under the previous table.

Before these changes, some lower-income parents who paid child support had very little income left after meeting their support obligation, especially if they supported multiple children.

Minnesota also changed several other parts of the child support calculation in 2023. The changes include:

• New minimum child support amounts.
• A new method for calculating deductions for non-joint children.
• Allowing deductions for all legal non-joint children.
• Applying the self-support reserve to Parental Income for Determining Child Support (PICS) instead of gross income.

Because these changes may affect your experience with the child support system, the survey will ask whether your current child support order was entered before or after Jan. 1, 2023.