Colorado child support is calculated under an Income Shares Model: the court combines both parents’ incomes, looks up the presumptive support amount for that income level and number of children, and divides it between the parents in proportion to what each one earns. Parenting time, health insurance, childcare, and extraordinary medical costs all adjust the final number. The governing statute is C.R.S. 14-10-115.
How the Amount Is Calculated
The math starts with adjusted gross income for each parent. Add the two together, find the corresponding basic obligation on the state’s Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations, and split it by income share. A parent who brings in 60% of the combined total is presumptively responsible for 60% of the basic obligation.
Two worksheets do the work. Worksheet A is for sole physical care. Worksheet B is for shared physical care. The dividing line is 93 overnights per year: if both parents hit at least 93, the court uses Worksheet B and each parent’s percentage of overnights (their overnights divided by 365) adjusts the cash obligation downward for the parent who spends more nights covering direct costs.1Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 1821M – Child Support Worksheet B (Shared Physical Care) If either parent falls below 93 overnights, Worksheet A applies and the parent with fewer overnights typically pays a larger cash share.
Judges can deviate from the schedule, but only when specific circumstances justify it, such as extraordinary medical or educational needs or significant travel costs when parents live far apart.
What Counts as Income
Income isn’t just wages. Courts include bonuses, commissions, self-employment earnings, rental income, severance, pensions, and Social Security benefits. The goal is each parent’s real financial capacity.
When a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can impute income based on work history, education, and the local job market. This blocks the strategy of taking a lower-paying job to shrink a support obligation.
Military allowances usually count too. Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Subsistence are typically included because they increase the service member’s actual ability to support the child, even though they don’t appear on a tax return. If a service member lives in on-base housing and receives no cash BAH, some courts exclude that benefit or impute a fair market rental value instead.
Add-Ons Beyond the Basic Amount
Work-Related Childcare
Childcare tied to a parent’s job, job search, or education is added to the basic obligation and split by income share. The statute caps the amount at what’s needed for quality care from a licensed provider, and the value of the federal child care tax credit is subtracted from actual costs before the split.2Justia. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
Health Insurance
Every order has to address medical coverage. The portion of the health insurance premium attributable to the child gets added to the basic obligation and divided by income share. Coverage is not considered reasonable if the premium runs 20% or more of the paying parent’s gross income, or if adding it would drop the child support order to $50 or less.3FindLaw. Colorado Code 14-14-112 – Medical Support When neither parent has access to affordable employer coverage, the court can order cash medical support instead.
Extraordinary Medical Expenses
Uninsured medical costs above $250 per child per calendar year, including copays, deductibles, and treatments insurance doesn’t cover, count as extraordinary medical expenses and get added to the basic obligation and divided by income share.2Justia. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines Ongoing therapy or chronic conditions can push these numbers up meaningfully, so keep documentation for every expense.
What Happens When a Parent Falls Behind
Colorado enforces support aggressively, and interest on the unpaid balance is running the whole time. Arrears that accrued on or after July 1, 2021, collect interest at two percentage points above the statutory rate, compounded annually.4Justia. Colorado Code 14-14-106 – Interest The custodial parent can waive interest, but the paying parent can’t reduce the balance on their own by disputing it.
Income Withholding
The default enforcement tool is automatic income withholding. Under C.R.S. 14-14-111.5, when a court enters or modifies an order, the payment is set up as an income assignment from the paying parent’s employer. The employer withholds directly from each paycheck and sends the money to Colorado Child Support Services.5Justia. Colorado Code 14-14-111.5 – Income Assignments for Child Support or Maintenance For self-employed parents, the court may order direct payments or place liens on business assets.
License Suspensions
Under C.R.S. 26-13-123, the state child support enforcement agency can flag a delinquent parent for driver’s license suspension. The parent gets notice and has 30 days to request an administrative review. If no review is requested or no payment arrangement is made, the Department of Revenue suspends the license.6Justia. Colorado Code 26-13-123 – Drivers Licenses – Suspension for Nonpayment of Child Support – Definitions A separate statute, C.R.S. 26-13-126, reaches professional, occupational, and recreational licenses, which puts real pressure on parents whose livelihoods depend on a license.
Tax Refund and Lottery Intercepts
The federal Treasury Offset Program lets the Bureau of the Fiscal Service redirect a federal tax refund toward past-due support. The IRS sends a notice explaining the offset and which agency received it.7Internal Revenue Service. Reduced Refund The federal Administrative Offset Program reaches other federal payments too, including federal retirement and vendor payments, once a parent is at least $25 behind and 30 days delinquent.8Administration for Children and Families. Overview of the Administrative Offset Program At the state level, C.R.S. 26-13-118 lets Colorado intercept lottery winnings from certified delinquent obligors and apply them to current obligations, arrears, and enforcement costs before releasing anything left over.9Justia. Colorado Code 26-13-118 – Lottery Winnings – Offset
Contempt of Court
When other tools don’t produce payment, contempt is the next step. Under C.R.S. 14-14-110, a certified payment record from the family support registry serves as initial evidence of contempt. The paying parent can defend by showing physical inability to work or other good cause.10Justia. Colorado Code 14-14-110 – Contempt of Court If the court finds noncompliance was intentional, Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 107 allows fines and up to six months in jail. Courts often issue a purge order first, giving the parent a chance to catch up through a lump sum or a strict schedule before jail time is on the table. If a parent doesn’t appear after being personally served, the court can issue a warrant.
Changing an Order
Either parent can ask for a modification under C.R.S. 14-10-122 by showing a substantial and continuing change in circumstances. The statute sets a hard floor: if recalculating under current guidelines would change the monthly amount by less than 10%, that’s not a substantial change.11Justia. Colorado Code 14-10-122 – Modification and Termination of Provisions for Maintenance, Support, and Property Disposition
The usual triggers are a real jump or drop in either parent’s income, a change in the child’s medical or educational needs, or a meaningful shift in parenting time. The parent asking for the change files a motion with the original court and has to prove the adjustment. Pay stubs, tax returns, and medical records carry most modification requests. If both parents agree, a stipulated modification usually goes through without a hearing; if they don’t, the court holds one.
Timing matters. A modification takes effect as of the filing date, not the ruling date, and support that accrued before filing generally can’t be changed retroactively.12Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 1403i – Motion to Modify Child Support Instructions File promptly when circumstances change.
Filing a motion to modify after the initial 60-day period costs $105 at the Colorado Judicial Branch. Cases handled through a delegate child support enforcement unit have no filing fee.13Colorado Judicial Branch. List of Fees
When Support Ends
Child support terminates automatically at age 19 without either parent filing anything, but the statute carves out several exceptions:2Justia. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
- Still in high school or an equivalent program at 19: support continues to the end of the month after graduation. A child who drops out and later re-enrolls can have support reinstated, but never past age 21.
- A physical or mental disability that prevents self-sufficiency: the court can order support, including medical expenses and insurance, to continue indefinitely.
- Marriage: the child is treated as emancipated on the wedding date. Support can be reinstated if the marriage is annulled or dissolved.
- Active military service: also counts as emancipation.
- Written agreement: parents can agree to extend support past 19 or to cover postsecondary education costs. Once approved and incorporated into the decree, those terms are enforceable like any other order.
Arrears don’t disappear when current support ends. A parent who owes back support still owes it, plus accrued interest, no matter how old the child is.