Divorced or separated parents often find themselves under a court-ordered obligation to provide financial support for their children. That‘s Minnesota Courts are required, when issuing orders about custody and parenting time rights, to provide for the financial support of the child. Minn. Stat. §518A.38 subd. 1.
Courts must determine child support based on a parent’s income. Minn. Stat. §518A.39(b)(1). Income can includes ‘potential income’ when that parent is ‘voluntarily unemployed, underemployed, employed on a less than full-time basis, or where is no direct evidence of any income.’ Minn. Stat. §518A.32, subd. 1.
Courts will presume that a parent can be employed on a full-time basis and support their child accordingly. “Full-time” means 40 hours of work. If a parent is not working ‘full-time’ and hopes to avoid having a court determine their income based on ‘potential income’, that parent has to present evidence of:
- mental or physical incapacity
- that underemployment is temporary
- the parent is going through a career change that will ultimately benefit the child; or
- Receipt of General Assistance or supplemental Social Security income.
Minn. Stat. §518A.32 subd. 3(3).
Whatever the parent’s reason for not being employed full-time, it is the parent’s burden to show evidence that one of the above-cited exceptions applies.
Courts are afforded considerable discretion when weighing evidence, and their findings will be upheld on review, so long as their findings are “reasonably supported by the record”. In Re Kenney, 963 NW2d 214 (Minn. 2021).
What this means to a parent hoping to prevent a court from adding ‘potential income’ to their child support calculation, had better provide some credible evidence of incapacity.
I recently reviewed a case where a parent provided a letter from a doctor, explaining that the parent couldn’t work more than 20 hours a week. The court wasn’t impressed, and found that the letter wasn’t written by the parents’ primary care physician, and appeared to have been dictated by the parent. Because the court wasn’t satisfied with the parent’s proof of incapacity, the court aded ‘potential income’ to the parent’s income.
There are 3 ways a court will add potential income to a parent’s earnings:
- the parent’s earnings based on recent work history and qualifications;
- any unemployment compensation or workers’ compensation benefit received; or
- working 30 hours per week at 100 percent of the current federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher.
Minn. Stat. §518A.32 subd. 2
If there is evidence of a parent’s work history, courts will use that evidence to determine a parent’s earnings for purposes of child support.
To avoid having a court assume (as it’s permitted) that a parent can keep working based on earnings history, parents should be prepared to provide ample, supporting evidence of inability to work. Leaving it to the court’s discretion will only result in the court assuming that the parent can work.
If you are under a child support obligation you cannot afford because of inability to work, consider contacting competent legal counsel to help you seek relief from the Court.
Meet Tim Simonson
Tim has been practicing for more than twenty (20) years now, He's handled divorce, child support, child custody, third party and grandparent rights, domestic abuse, parenting time, and many other areas of family law. He always enjoys the chance to meet people and see whether he can help find solutions to their legal problems.
Contact Beyer & Simonson
If you are facing divorce and any of the divorce-related issues such as spousal maintenance, child support, child custody, property division, or domestic abuse matters, you need our experienced Minneapolis divorce attorneys to help you. Contact Beyer & Simonson in Edina, Minnesota today at (952) 303-6007.
