Now that you understand the Basic Concepts behind Minnesota’s Child Support law, know how to calculate income, and have gathered other necessary information, it is time to learn how to compute child support under Minnesota’s new child support laws. Although the statute does explain how to calculate child support under the new income shares model, the online Child Support Calculator provided by the Minnesota Department of Human Services is a lot easier and more user-friendly (3 simple steps: 1) Go to the website, 2) Enter the data, 3) Click “Calculate”).
The calculator has 20 different lines for information. Not every line is necessary, not every line will be applicable in all cases. Almost all lines include a hyperlink definition box, so if you don’t understand what the calculator is looking for it is easy to figure out. While there is still room for argument on what numbers should be used to calculate child support, or what child support should be, the calculator is a quick and easy way to determine the guideline child support amount.
