Minnesota Legislature - Office on the Economic Status of Women

Instructions for Cost-of-Living Adjustment Form

1 Write in the name of the county where your child support or spousal maintenance order was issued, the name of the court where it was issued (this should appear on your order as "County" or "District" court), the judicial district and the case number. All of these should be indicated in your child support order or your divorce decree.

2 This section should be exactly the same as it appears at the beginning of your child support/spousal maintenance order. You may have to change this form. You may have to cross out "In Re the Marriage of" if your child support was not part of a divorce settlement. You may have to change "Petitioner" to "Plaintiff" and "Respondent" to"Defendant." Use your child support/spousal maintenance order as your guide.

3 You must fill in the date when your child support/spousal maintenance order was final. This date should appear at the front of the order or divorce decree.

Now you are ready to do the actual calculations to determine the amount of your adjustment.

STEP 1. Insert the current amount of child support/spousal maintenance you are now entitled to, based on your child support order or divorcee decree. Include any previous adjustments or increases you may have received.

STEP 2. You will need to insert the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure and the month and year you are using. CPI figures are available in the CPI Table. There are two different CPI-U figures on the table: the CPI-U and the MPLS/St. Paul CPI-U. If you are unsure of which CPI-U to use, Frequently Asked Questions provides additional information.

If you are filing this request to get an adjustment by the first day of a month, the most recent CPI available will be from several months earlier, depending upon when you file this form. The CPI for any given month is available about the 15th of the following month. (For example, a June CPI will be available and published by the federal government about July 15.)

While the U.S. CPI figures come out monthly, the MPLS/St. Paul CPI figures are available only twice each year (The MPLS/St. Paul CPI-U listed in the January column of the table reflects July through December of the preceding year, and the MPLS/St. Paul CPI-U listed in the July column of the table reflects January through June of the current year). Most people use the U.S. CPI-U because it is a broader measure and is available every month. You must use the last available figure.

STEP 3. Insert the CPI-U for two years ago* (or since the last change). Look this up on the CPI Table. You will need to write the month and year of the CPI-U you are using.

* If you have not filed for a cost-of-living adjustment before, use the same month and same year your child support or maintenance order was final. If you have received a cost-of-living adjustment before, use the same month you used in Step #2 when you last filed. If the CPI-U for that month is not yet published (and it has been two years), use the most recent CPI-U available.

STEP 4. Subtract the number in Step 3 from the number in Step 2. If the number you get after subtracting is bigger than the number in Step 2, check your figures.

STEP 5. Divide the number you got in Step 4 by the number on the line in Step 3. This will give you the cost-of-living adjustment. The number will have a decimal in front of it. You need to fill in only the first three numbers after the decimal point (for example .08632 can be written as .086).

STEP 6. Multiply the number in Step 5 by the number in Step 1. This will give you the dollar increase to your child support or spousal maintenance.

STEP 7. Add the number in Step 6 to the number in Step 1. This will give you the total amount of the new child support/spousal maintenance, including the adjustment.

IN THE LAST LINE insert the amount from line 7, the date when the new child support amount will take effect (you must give 20 days notice) and how often you receive child support (weekly, monthly, etc.).

NOTE: If you are receiving both child support and spousal maintenance you should figure the cost-of-living adjustment for each separately, so that the legal record is clear. You may combine these two into one dollar amount to put on this form.

When you are done filling out the Cost-of-Living Adjustment Form, you will need to make two photocopies** of the form, one for yourself and one for the person who pays you child support and/or maintenance. File the original with your other child support/spousal maintenance records at the court.

** If you are being paid directly by your ex-spouse's employer, you will also need to send a copy to the employer.

** If you are receiving spousal maintenance only, you may also need to send copies to your ex-spouse's employer and to the Child Support Enforcement Office if the payments are sent to them.

Last Updated: Thursday, 22-Sep-2005 10:45:55 CDT (mmp)