Child Support

A note before we begin: this guide is general information about Colorado child support — it is not legal advice, and lybr is not a law firm or a substitute for a lawyer who can review your specific situation. If you want help preparing your forms, the free guided wizard can walk you through it step by step.

Your Situation

Child support is money one parent pays the other to help cover the cost of raising their shared children. In Colorado, it isn't a punishment or a favor — it's a shared obligation that both parents owe. The amount comes from a formula the state designed to approximate what the two of you would be spending on your kids if the family were still under one roof.

That's worth knowing up front, because the number usually isn't as negotiable as people expect. Colorado law starts from a presumption built on both parents' incomes and the number of overnights each of you has with the children.

Whether you're setting up support for the first time, trying to change an existing order, or dealing with payments that aren't coming in, the stakes are concrete: this money affects your children's daily life and your own budget, and support orders carry real enforcement tools, including wage withholding and interest on unpaid amounts. This guide walks through what Colorado law requires, how courts tend to apply it, and what practical steps you can take.

What the Law Requires

Colorado uses an "income shares" model, set out in the child support statute (C.R.S. § 14-10-115). Support is based on both parents' combined monthly adjusted gross income. The idea is to estimate what would have been spent on the children in an intact household, then divide that responsibility between the parents in proportion to what each earns. The higher earner generally carries the larger share.

"Gross income" is defined broadly. It includes wages, salaries, tips, commissions, bonuses, self-employment earnings, dividends, interest, rents, royalties, capital gains, pensions and retirement benefits, severance pay, monetary gifts, and government benefits like Social Security, workers' compensation, unemployment, and disability. A few things are specifically excluded: child support you receive for other children, means-tested public assistance (such as Colorado Works/TANF, SSI, and food assistance), and income from additional jobs that push you past a normal work schedule. Overtime generally counts only if your employer requires it as a condition of employment — truly voluntary overtime typically does not.

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If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can calculate support based on "potential income" — what that parent could reasonably earn — rather than their actual paycheck.

That potential-income rule has specific exceptions. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-115(5)(b), the court must not impute potential income to:

• a parent who is physically or mentally incapacitated;
• a parent caring for a child under 24 months for whom both parents share legal responsibility; or
• a parent who is incarcerated for 180 days or more.

The statute also adjusts your income if you're legally responsible for other children: support you actually pay under another order is deducted, and there are separate calculations for other children living in or outside your home.

The guideline amount is a "rebuttable presumption" — the starting point the court assumes is correct unless there's a good, specific reason to depart from it. Support must be calculated on the state's standardized guideline worksheet. Colorado sets a $10 per month minimum order regardless of the number of children, with reduced amounts for low-income parents and a "self-support reserve" that protects a paying parent's basic needs. A parent with shared parenting time is never ordered to pay more than they would owe with no overnights at all.

Every support order must include the parties' and children's names, birth dates, and addresses, plus a plain-language advisement explaining enforcement, wage withholding, interest on unpaid support, and the standard for modification. Payments are usually routed through the Family Support Registry, and income assignments (wage withholding) are generally mandatory. Unpaid child support accrues interest until it's paid in full.

What Courts Typically Do

In practice, Colorado judges treat the guideline number as the answer unless someone gives them a solid, specific reason to deviate. A court can depart from the guideline only if it finds the result would be inequitable, unjust, or inappropriate — and it must state its reasons on the record along with what the guideline amount would have been. Recognized reasons to deviate include one parent spending substantially more time with the child than the overnight count reflects, extraordinary medical or parenting-time costs, a large gap in the parents' incomes, ownership of a substantial non-income-producing asset, or consistent overtime or a second job not counted in gross income.

One thing courts generally will not accept is a bare agreement that neither parent pays anything. A stipulation saying "we agreed nobody pays support" usually isn't enough, on its own, to justify a deviation.

Support generally ends when the youngest child turns 19, with exceptions — if the parents agreed otherwise in writing, if the child has a mental or physical disability, if the child is still in high school (support can continue up to 21), or if the child marries or enters active military duty.

The Worksheet and Forms

Colorado requires support to be calculated on the official state worksheet.

You'll also typically file a Sworn Financial Statement (JDF 1111) and the Supporting Schedules (JDF 1111SS) so the court can see each parent's income and expenses. The guided wizard can prepare the worksheet and financial forms based on your answers, instead of leaving you to decode the forms by hand.

(Form numbers and worksheet requirements can change. Confirm the current versions on the Colorado Judicial Branch forms site or with your court's Family Court Facilitator before you file.)

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Gather your income documentation. Pull together pay stubs, tax returns, and records of any other income — self-employment draws, bonuses, rents, dividends, retirement or disability benefits. You'll need an honest, complete picture of your gross monthly income, and the other parent's too if you have it.

2. Document your child-related expenses. Both parents generally must disclose documents showing work- or education-related child-care costs and any recurring extraordinary expenses (things like special education, therapy, or medical equipment). Collect these now.

3. Count overnights carefully. Figure out how many overnights each parent has with the children per year. The overnights must total 365.

4. Signal that support is at issue. If you're filing for divorce or separation and you have minor children, your petition needs to indicate that child support applies, so the court knows to make those orders. The guided wizard can prepare and pre-fill that paperwork based on your answers.

5. Run the calculation. Support must be calculated on the official child support worksheet.

6. Serve the other parent and file proof. Once your worksheet is complete, you give the other party a copy and file proof that you did. The wizard handles the correct paperwork for this step.

7. Consider free help. Colorado's Child Support Services will help locate a parent and establish, modify, or enforce support at no cost and with no income limit. Keep in mind they can't deviate from the guidelines — if a deviation is sought, they'll request a hearing.

8. If you're modifying an existing order, confirm the change clears the threshold (see the modification section below) before you file, and remember to update any wage-withholding order to match the new amount.

One Thing to Keep in Mind

Support and parenting time are independent obligations under Colorado law. Neither parent gets to withhold money because they're unhappy about visitation, and neither gets to withhold time because support is late. Keeping these separate tends to protect children and keeps you on the right side of both orders.

What to Do Today

• Start pulling together your income documents — recent pay stubs, your last tax return, and records of any other income sources.
• Make a written tally of the children's overnights with each parent over the year, so you know whether the shared-care formula applies.
• Gather receipts and records for child care and any recurring extraordinary expenses for your kids.
• Begin the guided wizard, which interviews you about your situation and prepares the worksheet and financial forms automatically.
• If cost or finding a parent is a barrier, contact Colorado's Child Support Services — their help is free and has no income limit.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

Employment instability. If you or the other parent is out of work, working part-time, or earning far below past levels, this directly affects the calculation. Courts can impute "potential income" after finding someone is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, and they may rely on labor-market data to estimate typical earnings — but the exceptions above (incapacity, caring for a child under 24 months, incarceration of 180 days or more) can mean a parent's actual income is used instead. See employment instability.

Housing instability. Support affects your budget and housing, and housing can affect parenting time — though the law is clear that an unstable living environment, by itself, isn't enough to restrict a parent's time with the children. See housing instability.

Order non-compliance. If the other parent stops paying, interest accrues and enforcement tools exist, including automatic activation of wage withholding if no timely objection is filed. Again, you cannot withhold parenting time because support is unpaid, and the other parent cannot withhold support because of a parenting-time dispute — these are independent remedies.

How to modify a court order. To change support, you generally need to show the recalculated amount would differ by more than 10%, or that the current order didn't address medical support. Any agreement between you still needs court authorization to take effect, and Colorado encourages an annual exchange of financial information to update support without a full hearing. See the modification process.

College and post-secondary education support. Regular child support usually ends at 19, but parents can agree in writing to cover college tuition, books, and fees, and courts can order both parents to contribute within statutory limits. A court generally can't order regular support and post-secondary support for the same child over the same period. See post-secondary education support.

This guide explains general Colorado rules and common court practice; it is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Statutes, worksheet, and form numbers change, and courts apply them to each family's specific facts. For help preparing your paperwork, try the free guided wizard. For advice about your own case, consider a limited-scope Colorado family-law attorney, your courthouse's Family Court Facilitator, or Colorado Legal Services.