Child care support in Minnesota is one of the three components of child support. Basic support and medical support are the other two.
Calculating Child Care Support
The guideline child care support amount is easy to calculate. It is based on the parents’ combined income. Parental income for child support is shortened to “PICS”.
Each parent’s income is added together. Each parent’s percent of the total is then used to determined his or her percentage responsibility for child care support.
Child care support is different from basic support in that the custodial parent always receives support from the non-custodial parent.
Child care support, on the other hand, is based on actual expenses incurred. Child care is typically paid out of pocket by one parent and the other parent must reimburse the paying parent his or her PICS share. It does not matter which parent pays the child care initially unless the court order specifies this.
Child Care Support Example
Imagine a father makes $7,000 per month and a mother makes $3,000 per month. Their combined income for support is $10,000. Father’s PICS percentage is 70%. Mother’s PICS percentage is 30%.
If, for example, father paid child care expenses of $400 per month, mother would need to reimburse him 30% of that amount, or $120 per month ($120 = 30% of $400).
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