Child Support

Every child needs financial and emotional support and every child has the right to support from both parents. Minnesota’s child support program benefits children by enforcing parental responsibility for their support.

The Child Support Enforcement Division supervises the child support program. County child support offices administer it by working with parents to establish and enforce support orders. The child support program helps:

• children receive the financial basic support, medical support, and child care support they deserve

• families work toward becoming and remaining self-sufficient

• parents establish a financial partnership

Child support guidelines change:

A new formula for calculating financial obligations is among the changes in child support law that took effect Jan. 1, 2007. The new formula includes both parents' incomes to determine each parent's share of the cost of raising a child. The change applies to actions filed with the court after January 1, 2007. An online Guidelines Calculator can help you estimate the amount of child support the court may order on a case.

Child support agencies provide services for:

• parents and guardians applying for services

• locating parents

• establishing parentage

• establishing court orders for basic support, medical support, and child care support

• enforcing court orders for support

• reviewing and modifying court orders for support

• working with other states to enforce support when one parent does not live in Minnesota

• collecting and processing payments

• closing cases.

Child support agencies do not help with:

• divorces

• parenting time and custody

• spousal maintenance (alimony) establishment

• legal advice or counsel.

Child support agencies and county attorneys do not represent either parent in child support court actions. Rather, they represent the best interests of the child according to the requirements of child support statutes and guidelines. In Minnesota, parents can also use an expedited process to resolve child support matters where they can represent themselves.

Facts and Figures

Information about Minnesota’s child support collections, statistics and other facts about the program are available in a fact sheet.

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