How to modify child support or spousal maintenance in Minnesota

Sources last checked: 3 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. The Cusp is not a law firm.

Minnesota divorce kit How child support is calculated Alimony in Minnesota Legal aid in Minnesota After your divorce: changing an order

The short version

Minnesota’s word for spousal support is “maintenance”. You change either kind of order by filing a motion in the existing case, not by starting a new one. Child support is governed by Minnesota Statutes section 518A.39 and spousal maintenance by section 518.552, subdivision 5b. For child support the court looks for a change that makes the current terms “unreasonable and unfair”, and the law presumes that is so when the guideline amount would be at least 20 percent and at least $75 a month higher or lower. A change can reach back only to the date the other side was served with notice of your motion. The statutes say the state court administrator must make a form available to support these motions, but the Minnesota Judicial Branch website blocks automated reading, so we could not read the form itself (see “What we could not confirm” below).

The test for child support

Wording below is a plain-language summary of Minnesota Statutes as we read it on 3 November 2026, with short quotations.

Who can ask, 518A.39 subd. 1: either parent can bring the motion, and so can the public authority responsible for support enforcement. If payments go through the public authority, a copy of the motion must be served on it.
The general test, subd. 2(a): the terms may be modified on a showing of one or more listed changes, “any of which makes the terms unreasonable and unfair”. The list includes substantially increased or decreased gross income of either parent, substantially increased or decreased need of a parent or the child, a change in the cost of living, extraordinary medical expenses, a change in health care coverage or its cost, work-related or education-related child care costs, and the emancipation of the child.
The 20 percent and $75 presumption, subd. 2(b)(1): a substantial change is presumed, and the current terms are “rebuttably presumed to be unreasonable and unfair”, if applying the guidelines in section 518A.35 gives an order “at least 20 percent and at least $75 per month higher or lower” than the current one. If the current order is under $75, the test is 20 percent alone.
Other presumptions, subd. 2(b): the same presumption applies if the medical support terms cannot be enforced, if ordered health coverage is not available to the child, if the order is a percentage rather than a dollar amount, if a parent’s gross income has “decreased by at least 20 percent through no fault or choice of the party”, or if a foreign-residence deviation no longer applies.
A new child is not enough alone, subd. 2(c): an order is not presumptively modifiable “solely because” a parent becomes responsible for another child born after the order. Other grounds can be raised.
What the court counts, subd. 2(e): the court applies section 518A.35 and “shall not consider the financial circumstances of each party’s spouse”. Pay for hours beyond a 40-hour week is left out only if the party proves several conditions listed in the statute, such as that the extra work began after the order and is voluntary.
No hearing needed, subd. 2(h): the court “need not hold an evidentiary hearing” on a motion to modify support.
Property is different, subd. 2(g): divisions of real and personal property “shall be final”, and can be reopened only on grounds that justify reopening a judgment.
Hardship on the first change under new guidelines, subd. 2(k): the court may limit the change in basic support if the full amount “would create hardship” for either parent.
Medical support only, subd. 8: medical support terms and the child dependency tax credit can be modified without reopening the whole order, if the order was set or modified in full within three years of the motion and one of the listed reasons applies.
When support ends, subd. 5: unless a court order says otherwise, a support obligation in a specific amount per child “terminates automatically and without any action by the obligor” when the child is emancipated. For two or more children without a per-child amount, it continues in full until the last child is emancipated or the court changes it. Under subd. 4, support is not ended by a parent’s death unless agreed or ordered, and the amount may be modified, revoked or paid as a lump sum.

The test for spousal maintenance

Who can ask, 518.552 subd. 5b(a): on the motion of either party, the court may modify “the amount and duration of maintenance”.
The test, subd. 5b(b): the terms may be modified on a showing of one or more circumstances “that make the terms of the existing order unreasonable and unfair”: substantially increased or decreased gross income of either person, substantially increased or decreased need of either person, or substantial changes in federal or state tax laws that affect spousal maintenance.
The factors are looked at again, subd. 5b(c): on a motion to modify, including a motion to extend the duration, the court applies the award factors in subdivisions 1 to 3 “that exist at the time of the motion”.
How far back, subd. 5b(d): a change may be made retroactive for any period the motion is pending, from the date notice of the motion was served on the other party, and, where it applies, from service on the public authority or the county attorney.
No hearing needed, subd. 5b(e): the court “need not hold an evidentiary hearing” on a motion to modify maintenance.
An agreement can lock it, subd. 5: the parties may expressly “preclude or limit modification of maintenance” by stipulation, but only if the court makes specific findings that the stipulation is fair, supported by consideration and based on full financial disclosure. They can also restore the court’s power to modify.
Death or remarriage, subd. 5a: unless agreed in writing or stated in the decree, the duty to pay future maintenance “is terminated upon the death of either party or the remarriage of the party” receiving maintenance.
Cohabitation, subd. 6: maintenance may be modified because the person receiving it lives with another adult. The change can be a reduction, suspension, reservation or termination. The court weighs four listed factors, including the economic benefit the person gets from the arrangement. A cohabitation motion generally “may not be brought within one year” of the decree, with two exceptions the statute states.
Retirement, subd. 7: if a party retires, maintenance may be modified. The court asks whether the retirement is in good faith and considers whether the party has reached full retirement age, among other factors. A motion can be brought before the retirement if it names the date.
Reopening, subd. 4: section 518.145, subdivision 2 applies to awards of spousal maintenance. We did not read that section.

Forms

The statutes require a form to exist. Section 518A.39 subd. 6 and section 518.552 subd. 8 each say the state court administrator’s office “shall prepare and make available” a form for people to submit in support of a motion to modify, for child support and for maintenance. Neither statute names or numbers the form.
We could not read the court’s forms. The Minnesota Judicial Branch website (mncourts.gov) put a browser check in front of even its robots.txt file when we tried, so we did not use it. Look for the current motion forms and instructions on the Minnesota Judicial Branch website or ask court administration in the county that holds your case.
Court rule on motions, Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 303: the motion must come with a notice of motion stating “the date, time, and place of the hearing”. If you ask for temporary financial relief, rule 303.02(b) calls for the Parenting/Financial Disclosure Statement form from the state court administrator, filed by both sides.

Notice, service and timing

Serve the notice, and keep the date. Because a change reaches back only to the date of service of notice of the motion, the date you serve matters. For child support, service on the public authority also counts where public assistance is being furnished or the county attorney is the attorney of record.
21 days before the hearing, rule 303.03(a)(1): the moving party serves on all parties and files with the court administrator the notice of motion and motion, relevant affidavits and exhibits, and any memorandum of law, “at least 21 days before the hearing”. No motion is heard until any required motion filing fee is paid.
The response, rule 303.03(a)(3): the other side serves and files its affidavits, exhibits and memorandum “at least 7 days before the hearing”. A responding party raising new issues has 14 days (rule 303.03(a)(2)).
If papers are late, rule 303.03(b): the hearing may be canceled, or the motion may be treated as unopposed.
Settlement efforts, rule 303.03(c): within 7 days of filing, the moving party must start a settlement conference and consider an appropriate dispute resolution process, with some exceptions in the rule. A Certificate of Settlement Efforts is filed no later than 24 hours before the hearing.
Testimony, rule 303.03(d): motions are decided on affidavits, exhibits and arguments unless the rules say otherwise. A request for oral testimony is made by motion filed no later than the party’s initial motion documents.

Before you file

Court staff cannot give legal advice. See legal aid in Minnesota for free or low-cost help, or the Minnesota divorce kit for the wider process.
Because a change reaches back only to service of notice, do not wait to start. Ask court administration how to get a hearing date in your county.
Attorney fees on these motions are governed by sections 518.14 and 518A.735 (subd. 2(i) and, for medical support only, subd. 8(d)). We did not read those sections.
Child support amounts follow the state guideline. See how child support is calculated in Minnesota, alimony in Minnesota, and after your divorce: changing an order.

What we could not confirm

The court’s own form. mncourts.gov blocks automated reading, so we did not read the motion form, its instructions, the forms list or any self-help page. We do not name a form number.
Fees. No official source we read states a motion filing fee amount, so we give none. Rule 303.03 refers to “any required motion filing fee”. We did not read the fee statute or any fee-waiver form.
Past-due support. We read that a change can be made retroactive only from service of notice. We did not read the rules on collecting, interest on, or forgiving arrears, including section 548.091.
Other statutes. We did not read section 518A.35 (the guideline), 518A.33, 518A.41 (medical support), 518A.43 (deviations), 518.14, 518A.735, 518.145 or the rules on service (Minn. R. Civ. P. 5 and 6).
The public authority’s own process. We read what the statute says about the public authority bringing or receiving a motion, but not the county child support agency’s pages or any review procedure outside court.
How courts decide. We read no court decisions, so we do not say what counts as “substantial” in practice.
Newer law. The statute pages we read are the 2026 Minnesota Statutes, as shown on the Revisor’s site on 3 November 2026. Check for later amendments.

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