Child Support Services

Responsibilities
Minnesota’s child support program benefits children by enforcing parental responsibility for their support. The Minnesota Department of Human Services, Child Support 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
Services
A person can receive child support if all of the following apply: 
  • The person is the parent of a minor child or is the person who has court-ordered custody of the minor child
  • The minor child lives in the person’s household
  • The child is financially dependent on that person
  • One or both of the child’s parents are absent from the home
  • A court has ordered a person to pay child support
Child support services are available to: 
  • Parents of minor children, if one parent does not live with the child
  • Parents who pay child support through court-ordered income withholding
  • People who have court-ordered, physical custody of a minor child
  • People who receive public assistance for a minor child who lives in their home
The child support unit provides services for: The child support unit does 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. Instead, 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.
  
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