HOW DOES CHILD SUPPORT WORK IN COLORADO?
Child support in Colorado is set by a statewide formula, not by a judge's general sense of what feels fair. The formula adds both parents' incomes together, estimates what the parents would have spent on the children in one household, and divides that amount between them in proportion to income, with adjustments for overnights, child care, health insurance and certain extraordinary expenses.
The formula changed on March 1, 2026, when the core parts of a 2025 law, HB25-1159, took effect. Two things did not change, and older articles online still get them wrong: support usually runs until 19, not 18, and child support is not tax deductible for the parent who pays it.
This guide explains how the calculation works, what counts as income, what changed in 2026, when a court can depart from the formula, and where to go next if you need an order, a change, or help collecting.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Who Pays Child Support and Why
- What Counts as Income for Child Support
- The Worksheet and the Adjustments
- What Changed in 2026 Under HB25-1159
- Low-Income Parents and the $10 Minimum Order
- When a Court Can Deviate From the Guidelines
- How Long Child Support Lasts
- Child Support and Federal Taxes
- Orders, Enforcement, Modification and Back Support
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Talking With a Colorado Springs Child Support Lawyer
- Sources
WHO PAYS CHILD SUPPORT AND WHY
Both parents owe a duty to support their children. In a dissolution of marriage, legal separation, maintenance or child support case, C.R.S. 14-10-115 directs the court, to the extent it has jurisdiction, to order either or both parents to pay an amount reasonable or necessary for the child's support.
Colorado uses what is usually called an income shares model. The statute says the guidelines calculate support from the parents' combined adjusted gross income, as an estimate of what would have been spent on the children if the family lived together, and then allocate that amount based on the physical care arrangement.
Each parent's share is calculated on the worksheet. The parent with the larger calculated obligation pays the difference to the other parent, so who pays is a result of the math rather than of a label.
Colorado law does not sort parents into custody labels for this purpose. It allocates parental responsibilities, meaning decision-making responsibility and parenting time, and the support formula looks at the number of overnights each parent actually has.
WHAT COUNTS AS INCOME FOR CHILD SUPPORT
The calculation starts with each parent's monthly gross income. Under C.R.S. 14-10-115, gross income comes from a long list of sources, including salaries, wages, tips, commissions, bonuses, self-employment income, pensions, dividends, interest, rents and capital gains.
Some items are left out. Child support you receive, means-tested public assistance such as Colorado Works, supplemental security income and food stamps, income from an additional job that takes you beyond 40 hours a week or full-time employment, and earnings inside a retirement account until you take a distribution are not counted.
Overtime counts only if your employer requires it as a condition of employment. For a business or self-employment, income is generally gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses, and income must be documented with items such as pay stubs and the most recent tax return.
Adjusted Gross Income
The worksheet then subtracts child support a parent already pays under an earlier order, maintenance actually paid, and an adjustment for other children the parent is legally responsible for. The result is adjusted gross income, the figure the schedule uses.
Potential Income When a Parent Is Not Working Full Time
If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, support is calculated on potential income instead of actual income. The statute does not impute potential income to a parent who is physically or mentally incapacitated, a parent who is caring for a child under the age of 24 months, or a parent incarcerated on a sentence of 180 days or more.
Taking a lower-paying job is not automatically underemployment. The statute excludes temporary employment reasonably intended to lead to higher income, and a good-faith career choice that is not intended to deprive a child of support and does not unreasonably reduce it. Full-time enrollment in an educational or vocational program can also qualify if the program is reasonably expected to lead to a degree or certification and higher income and does not unreasonably reduce support.
When there is no information about what a parent could earn, the statute uses a reasonable rate of pay for a 32-hour week, 50 weeks a year.
THE WORKSHEET AND THE ADJUSTMENTS
The calculation is done on the Judicial Branch's support worksheet, JDF 1821, which carries a revision date of March 1, 2026. The parents' adjusted gross incomes are added together, and the combined figure is matched to the statutory schedule to find the basic child support obligation for the number of children.
That basic obligation is split between the parents by each parent's percentage of combined income. The worksheet then applies the adjustments below.
Overnights and the Parenting Time Credit
Each parent's overnights for the year are entered on the worksheet and must total 365. A statutory table converts those overnights into a parenting time credit percentage, and that credit is used to adjust each parent's share.
Because every overnight now affects the math, the parenting schedule and the support calculation are closely connected. If the schedule changes for the long term, the support figure may change too.
Child Care
Work-related child care costs, net of the federal child care tax credit, and education-related child care costs are added to the basic obligation. Each parent's share of those costs follows the income percentages.
Health Insurance
The cost of health insurance for the children is added too, but only the children's portion of the premium. If the children's actual share is not known, the worksheet divides the total premium by the number of people covered and multiplies by the number of children covered by the order.
Extraordinary Expenses
Extraordinary medical expenses can be added, as can other extraordinary expenses the parents agree to or the court orders. The worksheet then subtracts what each parent pays toward these add-ons from that parent's share, so a parent who pays more than a proportional share owes less.
WHAT CHANGED IN 2026 UNDER HB25-1159
HB25-1159, the Child Support Commission Recommendations act, was signed on May 31, 2025. Its central changes to the calculation took effect on March 1, 2026, and the Judicial Branch issued a revised worksheet with that date.
- A higher schedule. The schedule of basic support obligations now runs to a combined monthly adjusted gross income of $40,000. The previous schedule stopped at $30,000.
- Every overnight counts. The old law gave a shared-care adjustment only when each parent had more than 92 overnights a year. Shared physical care now means each parent keeps the children at least one overnight a year, and the credit comes from the new parenting time table.
- A self-support reserve tied to minimum wage. The reserve equals the state hourly minimum wage multiplied by 29 hours a week, multiplied by 50 weeks, divided by 12 months.
- New low-income rules and a $10 minimum order. These are explained in the next section.
A 2026 law, HB26-1217, signed May 5, 2026, corrected cross-references inside the guidelines statute. It did not change the formula.
The new law did not recalculate existing orders on its own. An order entered before March 1, 2026 stays in effect until it is modified, and the article on whether a Colorado child support order can be modified explains when the new formula may support a motion.
LOW-INCOME PARENTS AND THE $10 MINIMUM ORDER
Colorado protects a basic amount of income for a parent with low earnings. If the paying parent's monthly adjusted gross income is $650 or less, the court orders a minimum of $10 a month, regardless of the number of children, unless shared parenting time produces an even lower amount.
If the paying parent earns more than $650 but no more than the self-support reserve, the basic obligation is reduced to a set amount: $50 a month for one child, $70 for two, $90 for three, $110 for four, $130 for five and $150 for six or more.
For a paying parent above the reserve, the statute deducts the reserve from that parent's adjusted gross income and applies a percentage to the difference, from 80% for one child to 95% for six or more, as part of the low-income test on the worksheet. For a parent above the reserve but at or below full-time minimum wage income, the final presumptive support, including add-ons, cannot exceed 20% of adjusted gross income.
For a parent who qualifies for the reduced low-income amounts, the statute also provides that shared physical care cannot make that parent owe more than the same parent would owe with no overnights. These steps appear in the worksheet's low-income section, and online calculators only estimate; the court sets the actual amount.
WHEN A COURT CAN DEVIATE FROM THE GUIDELINES
The guideline result is the presumptive amount, not an automatic one. Under C.R.S. 14-10-115(8)(e), a court may deviate from the guidelines when applying them would be inequitable, unjust or inappropriate. A court that deviates must make written or oral findings stating its reasons and the amount the guidelines would have produced, as the Colorado Supreme Court explained in In re Marriage of Boettcher, 2019 CO 81.
In setting support, the court considers all relevant factors, including the financial resources of the child, the financial resources and needs of each parent, the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved, and the child's physical and emotional condition and educational needs.
Deviations are uncommon. In a review of case files prepared for the Colorado Child Support Commission's 2023 report, deviations appeared in roughly 4% to 6% of orders from 2019 through 2022, and the most common recorded reason was that the parents agreed to a different amount.
An agreement between parents does not change support on its own. Any change needs court approval or action through the county administrative process, and an agreed amount that departs from the guidelines still has to be approved.
Incomes Above the Schedule
When combined adjusted gross income is more than $40,000 a month, the judge has discretion to set support. The statute sets a floor: the basic obligation cannot be less than the amount at the highest income level on the schedule.
Under Boettcher, a court may order more than that floor if findings on the statutory factors support it, and an amount below the floor is a deviation that requires deviation findings.
HOW LONG CHILD SUPPORT LASTS
For orders entered on or after July 1, 1997, support for the last or only child ends without a motion when that child turns 19. Support continues past 19 if the child is still in high school or an equivalent program, until the end of the month after graduation but not past age 21, and a court may order support to continue for a child with a mental or physical disability.
Under a 2025 amendment, concurrent enrollment in college courses does not count as an equivalent program, and a child in concurrent enrollment is emancipated once the child completes the minimum high school graduation requirements.
Support can end earlier if the child marries, enters a civil union or enters active military duty, and parents may agree in writing to extend it. The full rules, including what to check before you stop paying under an order that covers more than one child, are in when child support ends in Colorado.
CHILD SUPPORT AND FEDERAL TAXES
Child support is not deductible by the parent who pays it, and it is not taxable income to the parent who receives it. Some older articles online say otherwise, and they are wrong.
Maintenance is a separate matter. For divorce or separation instruments executed after December 31, 2018, spousal maintenance is also neither deductible nor taxable for federal purposes, and Colorado's worksheet adjusts for that when maintenance is part of the case.
Which parent claims the children as dependents is a different question from who pays support. The court can allocate that tax benefit, and a tax professional can tell you what it is worth in your situation.
ORDERS, ENFORCEMENT, MODIFICATION AND BACK SUPPORT
How support is ordered, paid and collected is covered in Colorado child support orders. In short, orders come from a court case or from county child support services, most are paid by income assignment through the Family Support Registry, and unpaid support becomes a judgment that can carry interest.
If your income, your expenses or the overnight schedule has changed for the long term, read how to modify a Colorado child support order. A modification generally reaches back only to the date the motion was filed, so waiting can cost you.
Questions about support for the months before an order, or about past-due amounts, are covered in retroactive child support in Colorado. You can also browse more articles on child support or all of our family law articles.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is Child Support Tax Deductible in Colorado?
No. For federal income tax purposes, child support is not deductible by the parent who pays it and is not taxable income to the parent who receives it.
Does Child Support End at 18 in Colorado?
No. For orders entered on or after July 1, 1997, support for the last or only child generally ends at 19. It can continue longer if the child is still in high school (but not past 21), if the child has a disability and the court orders continued support, or if the parents agreed in writing.
What Is the Minimum Child Support Order in Colorado?
If the paying parent's monthly adjusted gross income is $650 or less, the minimum order is $10 a month regardless of the number of children. A lower amount applies only if shared parenting time brings the calculation below $10.
Do Overnights Affect Child Support in Colorado?
Yes. Since March 1, 2026, every overnight counts, and a statutory table converts each parent's overnights into a parenting time credit used in the calculation.
Can Parents Agree to a Different Amount of Child Support?
Parents can propose an amount, but it does not take effect until the court or the county approves it. A departure from the guideline amount is allowed when applying the guidelines would be inequitable, unjust or inappropriate, and it must be supported by findings.
What Happens If Our Combined Income Is Above the Schedule?
The schedule now runs to $40,000 in combined monthly adjusted gross income. Above that level, the judge has discretion, but the basic obligation cannot be lower than the amount at the highest level on the schedule.
TALKING WITH A COLORADO SPRINGS CHILD SUPPORT LAWYER
Child support looks simple on a worksheet, but the inputs, such as income, overnights and add-on expenses, are where most disagreements happen. A Colorado Springs child support lawyer can check those inputs and explain how the 2026 rules apply to your family.
Moran, Allen & Associates Family Law Attorneys works with parents in El Paso County and Teller County. Call (719) 447-0762 in Colorado Springs or (719) 686-7554 in Woodland Park, or request a free consultation to talk through your situation. You can also read more about our Colorado Springs family law practice.
This article is general information about Colorado law as of October 2026 and is not legal advice. Laws, guideline schedules and court procedures change, so speak with a licensed Colorado attorney about your own situation.
SOURCES
- C.R.S. 14-10-115, Child Support Guidelines
- HB25-1159, Child Support Commission Recommendations (Colorado General Assembly)
- HB25-1159, enrolled act text (schedule and parenting time table)
- HB26-1217, Correct Child Support Guidelines Statutory Cites (Colorado General Assembly)
- HB26-1217, enrolled text (amends C.R.S. 14-10-115 "as they will become effective March 1, 2026")
- Colorado Supreme Court, In re Marriage of Boettcher, 2019 CO 81 (deviation findings and incomes above the schedule)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, JDF 1821 Support Worksheet (revised March 1, 2026)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, Modifying Child Support Order (self-help guide)
- Colorado Child Support Services, Calculating Payments
- Colorado Child Support Services, Frequently Asked Questions
- Colorado Child Support Commission, 2023 Quadrennial Review Report (deviation rates)