In Colorado, both parents are expected to support their children financially, even if they’ve never been married or are no longer together. Child support payments help cover day-to-day needs like food, clothing, and housing, but they can also include school expenses, medical care, and childcare costs.
When parents split up, figuring out how much each person should pay is rarely simple. Disagreements often come up about income, expenses, or how much time a child spends with each parent, and those issues can make child support one of the most debated parts of a family law case.
Colorado has guidelines for calculating child support, but those numbers don’t always tell the full story. A Greenwood Village child support lawyer at Colorado Lawyer Team can make sure the court gets an accurate picture of your income, your parenting responsibilities, and your family’s needs. If the other parent isn’t paying what the court ordered, we can take action to enforce the agreement. We’re here to guide you and protect what matters most: your children.
Why Hire Us as Your Greenwood Village Child Support Lawyers?
Child support cases can affect your child’s well-being for years to come. At Colorado Lawyer Team, you’ll work with experienced attorneys who care about your family and stay directly available to you throughout your case. With us, you’re not left wondering about your case: you’ll know what’s happening and what steps are being taken on your behalf.
- Clear Guidance on Colorado Child Support Laws: Child support formulas look straightforward, but they don’t always reflect the reality of your household income and expenses. We explain how the law applies to your situation and identify areas where adjustments may be possible.
- Protection for Your Income and Rights: Courts weigh earnings, childcare, healthcare, and parenting time when setting support. The child support attorneys at our law firm make sure the numbers presented are accurate so you aren’t paying more than required or receiving less than your child needs.
- Support When Circumstances Change: Job loss, relocation, medical costs, or a new parenting schedule can make an old child support order unworkable. Our legal team helps you request modifications so support payments match your current situation.
- Enforcement of Existing Orders: Missed support payments create stress and uncertainty for children and parents alike. When child support disputes arise, our family law attorneys pursue enforcement through wage garnishment, contempt actions, or other court remedies to make sure obligations are met.
- Representation in Court: Some disputes can’t be resolved outside the courtroom. With prosecutorial experience and years of trial work, our attorneys know how to present evidence and arguments that resonate with local judges.
How Is Child Support Calculated in Colorado?
Colorado law uses an Income Shares model. The court starts with both parents’ adjusted gross incomes, calculates a basic child support amount based on the combined income and number of children, then divides that obligation between the parents proportionally. The state provides official child support worksheets and software that perform the calculation and list specific adjustments for health insurance, childcare, and extraordinary medical costs.
Here’s how the calculation works with the Income Shares model:
- Determine each parent’s adjusted gross income. That includes wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, self-employment income, rental or investment income, and other regular income sources the court can verify. Courts can also impute income if a parent is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed.
- Combine the adjusted gross incomes and use the guideline schedule or worksheet. The combined figure maps to a basic child support obligation on the official schedule or through Family Law Software. The worksheet then allocates the total obligation between the parents based on each parent’s share of the combined income.
- Add child-specific costs and divide them proportionally. These costs include the children’s share of health insurance premiums, work-related childcare, and extraordinary medical expenses; those added costs are divided between the parents in proportion to their adjusted gross incomes. If one parent pays the insurance premium, that payment is credited against that parent’s share of the obligation.
- Account for parenting time and low-income adjustments. The worksheet adjusts support for overnight parenting time and applies a low-income calculation when combined parental income is below statutory thresholds. Recent Colorado state law updates changed how shared parenting time is recognized, so even limited overnights can affect the worksheet in some cases.
Colorado child support guidelines apply to combined parental incomes up to a statutory cap. Courts may apply the cap or depart from the guideline amount when the parents’ combined income exceeds the schedule or when a statutory exception applies. Courts can also deviate from the Colorado guidelines if specific, documented reasons exist.
If you’re preparing for a support calculation, gather recent pay stubs, tax returns, proof of childcare costs, health insurance bills showing the child portion of the premium, and documents showing any extraordinary medical expenses. The official worksheet or Family Law Software will use those documents, so having them ready lets your lawyer identify legitimate adjustments to the basic obligation.
How Long Do You Pay Child Support in Colorado?
Colorado child support laws dictate that payments generally end when the last (or only) child turns 19 years old. If the child is still enrolled in high school, support continues until the end of the month after the child graduates or until they turn 21, whichever comes first. A judge can also order support to continue past these dates if the child has a physical or mental disability that prevents self-support, or the parents have agreed in writing to extend payments.
Support can stop earlier if the child becomes emancipated. Common emancipation events include the child’s marriage, enlistment in the armed forces, or financial independence. A stepparent adoption that terminates the legal parent-child relationship can also end the obligation for the paying parent.
To prepare for a change in support, gather documents that prove the relevant event: school enrollment or graduation records, military orders or enlistment papers, a marriage certificate, proof of the child’s earnings, or medical records showing a qualifying disability. If circumstances have changed, you can file a motion to modify the child support order or submit a written stipulation for the court to approve; informal promises between parents won’t protect you if enforcement proceedings follow.
Do You Pay Still Child Support if You Have Joint Custody?
Yes, it’s likely. Whether you pay depends on your incomes, how many overnights the child spends with each parent, and any child-specific costs the court allocates (health insurance, childcare, extraordinary medical expenses). Also, you can never wholly waive child support, and it can always be modified. Even if both parents agree, a court must approve any deviation from the standard guidelines. What we often do is put in a tiny amount if the parties both agree not to seek or enforce support and are relatively equal in terms of earnings and the ability to provide for the child in a joint custody arrangement. A total waiver is not enforceable, though, as it is the child’s right to receive support and cannot be waived by the parents.
If both parents earn the same amount and the child spends roughly equal time with each parent, the worksheet can produce a net support of zero because each parent’s share of the basic obligation is equal. But this doesn’t often happen. Your attorney can run the official worksheet using both parents’ incomes, the exact overnight counts, and documented child costs. The line-by-line result shows whether support will be ordered and how large it will be.
Enforcing Child Support Orders: What Can You Do if the Other Parent Stops Paying?
If the other parent misses child support payments, there are steps you can take to collect what’s owed. Common enforcement procedures include:
- Document Missed Payments: Keep a dated record of every missed or late payment, including bank statements, screenshots of transfers, and notes of verbal promises. Those records are basic evidence you’ll use with the county child support office or the court.
- Contact Child Support Services: The Colorado Child Support Services program and the Family Support Registry can open an enforcement case, issue income withholding orders, and use administrative remedies on your behalf. Many parents start enforcement through the state agency because it centralizes tools like employer notices and tax intercepts.
- Request Income Withholding or Wage Garnishment: If the non-paying parent is employed, the state can notify the employer to withhold child support from wages and send any income garnished to you.
- Seek Administrative Intercepts and Reporting: State agencies can redirect federal and state tax refunds to cover arrears, report delinquency to credit bureaus, and intercept unemployment or other state payments. Those intercepts apply automatically once arrears meet the program criteria.
- File a Motion to Enforce or a Contempt Petition: You can ask the court to hold the parent in contempt for willful nonpayment; courts may order make-up payments, fines, or other sanctions and, in some cases, jail. Before filing garnishment or seizure paperwork, the court normally requires an entry or verification of the support judgment.
- Ask for Liens, Levies, or License Actions: The state can place liens on property, levy bank accounts, or request suspension of driver’s, professional, or recreational licenses when payments remain unpaid. These remedies are authorized under the state’s enforcement rules and regulations.
- Consider a Payment Plan or Support Modification: If the other parent claims they can’t pay because of job loss or disability, you can either seek a court-ordered payment plan or file for modification so the support amount matches current earnings. The court will look at current income records and other evidence when deciding a modification.
Get Help from a Greenwood Village Child Support Attorney Today
Colorado child support laws exist to cover the child’s everyday and changing needs. A clear, enforceable order helps ensure that your child’s schooling, medical care, and activities aren’t interrupted by missed payments.
At Colorado Lawyer Team, our attorneys review your pay stubs, tax returns, and expense records so you have a general idea of what to expect. If an order has already been issued, we can review it as well as payment history and explain the options for setting, modifying, or enforcing support. For more information about legal representation or to schedule a consultation, please call our Colorado family law firm at 970-536-5880.