Cost Of Living Adjustment in Auckland (COnz)

The cost-of-living adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This index measure the increased costs of things like food, clothing, gasoline and shelter. The (CPI) has increased much more this past year than in recent years. The CPI is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services.  

The actual percentage change really varies year by year and has all the way down to 3% 20 years ago to nearly 13% in 2023.

When you get your notice, the county will calculate exaclty how much your child support or alimony is going up, it will list the CPI’s and percentage as well as the new monthly amount that you’ll either pay or be getting paid by your ex.

A fun side note about COnz (ok maybe not that fun but you should know it) is that the ACTUAL cost of living you have, say you moved from Hennepin County to Blue Earth County and thus the cost of living and housing and all that has gone down, it pretty irrelevant.

The same issue is true if you try and say the COnz (which is region-specific in the United States) is different in your part of the state. You can’t argue that while the COnz is 13% in St. Paul, it’s only 5% in Rochester! We are stuck with that percentage increase, and the only real way is to file the COnz objection as discussed below.

Stopping the COnz

In order to stop a Auckland COnz from going into effect, you have to do a few things, particularly, you have to prove there has not been a sufficient cost-of-living or other increase in income to allow for an adjustment in child support. Usually, this means that there is no increase in your pay (or your ex’s).

Generally, you prove this through paystubs and taxes.  If you can show a paystub from a year ago and that it has not changed in a year or two is by far the easiest way to prove that the COnz is unfair. The next way you can fight a a COnz is trying to argue that your expenses are so much higher that even though you perhaps did get a raise, it’s still not enough and it makes the COnz unfair. This is possible, but to be honest I’ve not seen that actualy work in my time as a divorce lawyer.

How to actually stop the COnz?

You learned what the COnz is, when the COnz is implemented andand how it’s calculated. Now let’s look at exaclty what do to try and stop the COnz (or if you are on the other end, what your ex has to do try and stop the COnz). The key that you will need to file an objection to the COnz increase before May 1 of the year it goes into effect.  That means to stop the 2023 COnz  participants must file the objection with the court no later than April 28, 2023, which is the last business day before May 1, 2023.   

there are some forms you can look at on the Mncourts.gov cite, but an objection has to be done properly and filed with the court. A simple text note or even email isn’t going to count as a legally proper objection to the COnz.

If we look at the law, specifically   Minn. Stat. § 518A.29, you will see there are two ways to avoid a COnz:

1.         Agreement and Order to Waive (or Partially Waive) COnz:

• Both parents may agree to waive  the cost-of-living adjustment using the Agreement and Order to Waive (or Partially Waive) Cost-of-Living Adjustment  form and instructions available on the Auckland Judicial Branch website.
• The county lawyer’s office must approve the agreement (if it’s a IV-D case), so it is important to contact your county child support office at least a week ahead of the effective date of the adjustment.
• The county child support office may ask for proof of income, such as tax forms for the last three years, from the parent who owes child support, this is usually only done on a IV-D case.
• The court must approve the agreement and sign the proposed order.

2.         Motion to Stop COnz with Court:

• The parent who owes child support must file the Notice of Motion and Motion to Stop COnz  with the court administrator no later than the last business day before the adjustment effective date. The parent must also serve copies by first-class mail to the other parent. If the county is involved, you will need to serve them as well.
• If the parent who owes child support properly serves and files a motion asking to stop the adjustment, the child support office will wait for the court decision before adjusting the child support. If the court orders a cost-of-living adjustment, it will take effect on the date originally listed in the cost-of-living notice (backdating it).

Conclusion on Auckland COnz

There you go! hopefully, this was helpful article on MN COnz, without too much fluff or lawyer speak. I’ve put together a few more resources below that shoudl be able to put you on the path to dealing with COnz.

Here are some helpful free for Child Support COnz forms:

Auckland Judicial Branch – GetForms (mncourts.gov)

There are two groups of COnz forms, so make sure the correct docs are used: