1997 Minnesota Statutes

     518.64 Modification of orders or decrees. 

    Subdivision 1.  After an order for maintenance or support 
 money, temporary or permanent, or for the appointment of 
 trustees to receive property awarded as maintenance or support 
 money, the court may from time to time, on motion of either of 
 the parties, a copy of which is served on the public authority 
 responsible for child support enforcement if payments are made 
 through it, or on motion of the public authority responsible for 
 support enforcement, modify the order respecting the amount of 
 maintenance or support money, and the payment of it, and also 
 respecting the appropriation and payment of the principal and 
 income of property held in trust, and may make an order 
 respecting these matters which it might have made in the 
 original proceeding, except as herein otherwise provided.  A 
 party or the public authority also may bring a motion for 
 contempt of court if the obligor is in arrears in support or 
 maintenance payments. 

    Subd. 2.    Modification.  (a) The terms of an order 
 respecting maintenance or support may be modified upon a showing 
 of one or more of the following:  (1) substantially increased or 
 decreased earnings of a party; (2) substantially increased or 
 decreased need of a party or the child or children that are the 
 subject of these proceedings; (3) receipt of assistance under 
 sections 256.72 to 256.87 or 256B.01 to 256B.40; (4) a change in 
 the cost of living for either party as measured by the federal 
 bureau of statistics, any of which makes the terms unreasonable 
 and unfair; (5) extraordinary medical expenses of the child not 
 provided for under section 518.171; or (6) the addition of 
 work-related or education-related child care expenses of the 
 obligee or a substantial increase or decrease in existing 
 work-related or education-related child care expenses.  

    (b) It is presumed that there has been a substantial change 
 in circumstances under paragraph (a) and the terms of a current 
 support order shall be rebuttably presumed to be unreasonable 
 and unfair if: 

    (1) the application of the child support guidelines in 
 section 518.551, subdivision 5, to the current circumstances of 
 the parties results in a calculated court order that is at least 
 20 percent and at least $50 per month higher or lower than the 
 current support order; 

    (2) the medical support provisions of the order established 
 under section 518.171 are not enforceable by the public 
 authority or the custodial parent; 

    (3) health coverage ordered under section 518.171 is not 
 available to the child for whom the order is established by the 
 parent ordered to provide; or 

    (4) the existing support obligation is in the form of a 
 statement of percentage and not a specific dollar amount.  

    (c) On a motion for modification of maintenance, including 
 a motion for the extension of the duration of a maintenance 
 award, the court shall apply, in addition to all other relevant 
 factors, the factors for an award of maintenance under section 
 518.552 that exist at the time of the motion.  On a motion for 
 modification of support, the court:  

    (1) shall apply section 518.551, subdivision 5, and shall 
 not consider the financial circumstances of each party's spouse, 
 if any; and 

    (2) shall not consider compensation received by a party for 
 employment in excess of a 40-hour work week, provided that the 
 party demonstrates, and the court finds, that: 

    (i) the excess employment began after entry of the existing 
 support order; 

    (ii) the excess employment is voluntary and not a condition 
 of employment; 

    (iii) the excess employment is in the nature of additional, 
 part-time employment, or overtime employment compensable by the 
 hour or fractions of an hour; 

    (iv) the party's compensation structure has not been 
 changed for the purpose of affecting a support or maintenance 
 obligation; 

    (v) in the case of an obligor, current child support 
 payments are at least equal to the guidelines amount based on 
 income not excluded under this clause; and 

    (vi) in the case of an obligor who is in arrears in child 
 support payments to the obligee, any net income from excess 
 employment must be used to pay the arrearages until the 
 arrearages are paid in full. 

    (d) A modification of support or maintenance may be made 
 retroactive only with respect to any period during which the 
 petitioning party has pending a motion for modification but only 
 from the date of service of notice of the motion on the 
 responding party and on the public authority if public 
 assistance is being furnished or the county attorney is the 
 attorney of record.  However, modification may be applied to an 
 earlier period if the court makes express findings that:  

    (1) the party seeking modification was precluded from 
 serving a motion by reason of a significant physical or mental 
 disability, a material misrepresentation of another party, or 
 fraud upon the court and that the party seeking modification, 
 when no longer precluded, promptly served a motion; 

    (2) the party seeking modification was a recipient of 
 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Title II Older 
 Americans, Survivor's Disability Insurance (OASDI), other 
 disability benefits, or public assistance based upon need during 
 the period for which retroactive modification is sought; or 

    (3) the order for which the party seeks amendment was 
 entered by default, the party shows good cause for not 
 appearing, and the record contains no factual evidence, or 
 clearly erroneous evidence regarding the individual obligor's 
 ability to pay.  

    The court may provide that a reduction in the amount 
 allocated for child care expenses based on a substantial 
 decrease in the expenses is effective as of the date the 
 expenses decreased. 

    (e) Except for an award of the right of occupancy of the 
 homestead, provided in section 518.63, all divisions of real and 
 personal property provided by section 518.58 shall be final, and 
 may be revoked or modified only where the court finds the 
 existence of conditions that justify reopening a judgment under 
 the laws of this state, including motions under section 518.145, 
 subdivision 2.  The court may impose a lien or charge on the 
 divided property at any time while the property, or subsequently 
 acquired property, is owned by the parties or either of them, 
 for the payment of maintenance or support money, or may 
 sequester the property as is provided by section 518.24. 

    (f) The court need not hold an evidentiary hearing on a 
 motion for modification of maintenance or support. 

    (g) Section 518.14 shall govern the award of attorney fees 
 for motions brought under this subdivision. 

    Subd. 3.  Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly 
 provided in the decree, the obligation to pay future maintenance 
 is terminated upon the death of either party or the remarriage 
 of the party receiving maintenance. 

    Subd. 4.  Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly 
 provided in the order, provisions for the support of a child are 
 not terminated by the death of a parent obligated to support the 
 child.  When a parent obligated to pay support dies, the amount 
 of support may be modified, revoked, or commuted to a lump sum 
 payment, to the extent just and appropriate in the circumstances.

    Subd. 4a.    Automatic termination of support.  (a) 
 Unless a court order provides otherwise, a child support 
 obligation in a specific amount per child terminates 
 automatically and without any action by the obligor to reduce, 
 modify, or terminate the order upon the emancipation of the 
 child as provided under section 518.54, subdivision 2. 

    (b) A child support obligation for two or more children 
 that is not a support obligation in a specific amount per child 
 continues in the full amount until the emancipation of the last 
 child for whose benefit the order was made, or until further 
 order of the court. 

    (c) The obligor may request a modification of the obligor's 
 child support order upon the emancipation of a child if there 
 are still minor children under the order.  The child support 
 obligation shall be determined based on the income of the 
 parties at the time the modification is sought. 

    Subd. 5.    Form.  The department of human services 
 shall prepare and make available to courts, obligors and persons 
 to whom child support is owed a form to be submitted by the 
 obligor or the person to whom child support is owed in support 
 of a motion for a modification of an order for support or 
 maintenance or for contempt of court.  

    Subd. 6. Repealed, 1995 c 257 art 3 s 17 

    HIST: 1951 c 551 s 11; 1974 c 107 s 26; 1978 c 772 s 59; 1979 
 c 259 s 31; 1981 c 360 art 2 s 48,49; 1982 c 424 s 130; 1983 c 
 283 s 1; 1983 c 308 s 22,23; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1985 c 266 s 
 3; 1986 c 406 s 8; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 90; 1988 c 532 s 14; 1988 
 c 668 s 24; 1951 c 551 s 11; 1974 c 107 s 26; 1978 c 772 s 59; 
 1979 c 259 s 31; 1981 c 360 art 2 s 48,49; 1982 c 424 s 130; 
 1983 c 283 s 1; 1983 c 308 s 22,23; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1985 
 c 266 s 3; 1986 c 406 s 8; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 90; 1988 c 532 s 
 14; 1988 c 668 s 24; 1990 c 574 s 22; 1991 c 266 s 7; 1991 c 292 
 art 5 s 79; 1993 c 340 s 45-48; 1Sp1993 c 1 art 6 s 52; 1994 c 
 630 art 11 s 12; 1995 c 257 art 1 s 31; art 3 s 11,12; 1997 c 
 187 art 2 s 13; 1997 c 245 art 1 s 29