Short answer: No. Your child support won’t change just because you get married. Minnesota support is based on the parents’ own incomes and parenting time, and the law excludes the income of a new spouse or partner. However, new children in the home can affect the calculation.
Will child support change if I get married? Either parent may remarry, whether it’s the parent who pays support (the obligor) or the parent who receives it (the obligee), and both may wonder about this. First, let’s look at what goes into child support.
How Child Support is Calculated
In Minnesota, courts calculate child support mainly from two things:
- Each parent’s parenting time with the child
- Each parent’s income
Other factors can also affect the calculation. For example, a child from another relationship living in one of the households can change the number. But income from adults other than the child’s parents is not part of the calculation. You can try the official Minnesota child support calculator to see how it works.
The calculation also doesn’t include the income of anyone a parent lives with, whether or not they’re married. Minnesota law specifically excludes that income.
Will Child Support Change if I Get Married?
No. Getting married doesn’t change child support. As explained above, the calculation excludes other adults’ income. In Minnesota, a parent is only financially responsible for their own children.
So if you marry, your new spouse doesn’t become financially responsible for your children from a previous relationship, and the amount of child support won’t go up or down because of the marriage.
For the Parent who is Marrying and Receives Child Support
Your new spouse has no financial obligation to your children. The other parent is still responsible for supporting them.
So if you receive child support and remarry, the other parent still has to pay the same amount of child support they paid before.
For the Parent who is Marrying and Pays Child Support
On the other side, if you pay child support, you won’t pay more or less because you married or moved in with someone.
The court won’t use your higher household income in the calculation, and it won’t reduce your child support because you now share expenses with a spouse or partner.
In short, whichever side of the child support formula you’re on, a new spouse’s income won’t affect the calculation.
However, having children with a new spouse can affect child support. A parent’s other children living in their home can be factored into the calculation.
Related reading: Changing Child Support in Minnesota.
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