Daycare Expenses

25. Who pays for daycare expenses? The cost of work or school related daycare cost are shared by the parents. Unless you and your spouse agree otherwise, you will share daycare expenses according to the PICS number. If you have 37 percent of the combined gross income, you would pay 37 percent and your spouse would pay 63 percent of these costs. However, because the parent paying for daycare often receives a state and federal tax credit, you must first find out what daycare actually costs after the tax credits. The Minnesota Department of Human Services prepares tables which show the amount of the tax credit. The child support calculator available online automatically takes the tax credit into account when calculating each parent’s share of daycare expenses. You attorney may have other software which can also calculate the tax credit when determining the amount of the daycare contribution. If the daycare expenses vary, for example if they are higher in the summertime when school is out, you must determine the average monthly cost for the entire year.

Although daycare contributions are a part of the child support obligation (COLA), they are not subject to Cost of Living Adjustments. In addition, these contributions are limited to daycare expenses which are incurred in order to allow the custodial parent to work or to attend school. Daycare contributions also end when the daycare expenses end. If the custodial parent notifies the public authority assisting with child support that the expenses have ended, the payments will be suspended. If the non-custodial parent notifies the public authority that daycare has ended, the public authority will verify that with the custodial parent. If the parents disagree as to whether the child is still in daycare, either party will have to bring a motion asking the court to determine the true facts. This is an overview of the law and your attorney can explain it in more detail as well as how it might apply to your particular case.

One final note to consider is that the non-custodial parent may be able to have the children with them instead of in daycare while the custodial parent works or attends school. Whether this is a good idea depends on the facts in your case. While this reduces the daycare costs for both parents, it is not a reason to increase or decrease child support.