tel. 651/210-9409

I represent clients primarily in the Twin Cities seven-county metro area. Contact me for more information.

• Roseville (MN)
• Ramsey County
• Arden Hills
• Columbia Heights
• Falcon Heights
• Fridley
• Hennepin County
• Little Canada
• Maplewood
• Minneapolis
• Mounds View
• New Brighton
• North Oaks
• Shoreview
• St. Anthony Village
• St. Paul
• Vadnais Heights
• Washington County
• White Bear
• Woodbury

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If a parent is voluntarily unemployed, underemployed, or employed on a less than full-time basis, or there is no direct evidence of any income, child support is calculated based on a determination of potential income.

The court presumes that a parent can be gainfully employed on a full-time basis. The parent can rebut this presumption with evidence that he or she cannot be gainfully employed on a full-time basis. Full time means 40 hours of work in a week, unless the standard of a specific job is a normal work week of more or less than 40 hours in a week.

Methods to Determine Potential Income

The court uses one of three methods to determine potential income of a parent.

1. The parent's probable earnings level based on employment potential, recent work history, and occupational qualifications in light of prevailing job opportunities and earnings levels in the community;
2. If a parent is receiving unemployment compensation or workers' compensation, that parent's income may be calculated using the actual amount of the unemployment compensation or workers' compensation benefit received;
3. The amount of income a parent could earn working full time at 150 percent of the current federal or state minimum wage, depending on which is higher.

Parent Not Voluntarily Unemployed or Underemployed

A parent is not considered voluntarily unemployed, underemployed, or employed on a less than full-time basis if the parent can prove the following:

• The unemployment, underemployment, or employment on a less than full-time basis is temporary and will ultimately lead to an increase in income;
• The unemployment, underemployment, or employment on a less than full-time basis represents a bona fide career change that outweighs the adverse effect of that parent's diminished income on the child;
• The unemployment, underemployment, or employment on a less than full-time basis is because a parent is physically or mentally incapacitated or due to incarceration, except where the reason for incarceration is the parent's nonpayment of support.

TANF Recipient

If the parent of a joint child is a recipient of a temporary assistance to a needy family (TANF) cash grant, no potential income will be imputed to that parent.

Caretaker

If a parent stays at home to care for a child who is subject to the child support order, the court may consider the following factors when determining whether the parent is voluntarily unemployed, underemployed, or employed on a less than full-time basis:

1. The parenting and child care arrangements before the child support action;
2. The stay-at-home parent's employment history, recency of employment, earnings, and the availability of jobs within the community for an individual with the parent's qualifications;
3. The relationship between the employment-related expenses, including, but not limited to, child care and transportation costs required for the parent to be employed, and the income the stay-at-home parent could receive from available jobs within the community for an individual with the parent's qualifications;
4. The child's age and health, including whether the child is physically or mentally disabled;
5. The availability of child care providers.

This test does not apply if the parent stays at home only to care for other nonjoint children.  In other words, the parent does not get credit for staying home to take care of his or her children if those children are not also the children of the other parent.

Economic Conditions

A self-employed parent is not considered to be voluntarily unemployed, underemployed, or employed on a less than full-time basis if that parent can show that the parent's net self-employment income is lower because of economic conditions that are directly related to the source or sources of that parent's income.