Colorado Child Support Calculator
By Attorney Charles E. Liken Jr., Colorado court-appointed Child and Family Investigator. A fast, free estimate of monthly child support under Colorado's income-shares guideline (C.R.S. § 14-10-115) — no email required.
Charles E. Liken Jr., Esq. — On the Legal Front Lines · Former Government Investigator, Denver Human Services · Licensed Colorado Attorney · 20+ Years in Private Practice · Former Colorado Deputy District Attorney · Colorado Court-Appointed Child and Family Investigator
Colorado Child Support Estimator
Colorado uses an income-shares model: both parents' incomes are combined, a basic support obligation is set from the state schedule, and it's divided in proportion to income and parenting time. Enter your numbers for a fast estimate.
Estimate only. This tool uses the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations and the parenting-time credit table in C.R.S. § 14-10-115(7)(b) and (8)(h), as repealed and reenacted by HB25-1159 (2025 Colo. Sess. Laws ch. 334), effective March 1, 2026, and follows the steps of the Colorado Judicial Branch JDF 1821 Support Worksheet. Combined incomes between schedule rows are interpolated; above $40,000 a month the court has discretion, but the basic obligation is not less than the $40,000 row (§ 14-10-115(7)(a)(VII)). The parenting-time credit follows JDF 1821 lines 5.c and 6 (each parent's line 5 share times that parent's credit percentage). The estimate also applies the minimum order, low-income adjustment and self-support reserve rules in § 14-10-115(7)(a)(III)-(V) (as amended by HB25-1159 and HB26-1217), using the 2026 Colorado minimum wage of $15.16 an hour from the 2026 PAY CALC Order (7 CCR 1103-14): a self-support reserve of $1,831.83 a month (§ 14-10-115(3)(g.5)) and a full-time minimum-wage income of $2,627.73 a month. The minimum wage changes each year, so these figures change too. Actual orders also adjust for maintenance, other children, extraordinary expenses, and deviations a court finds appropriate. It is not legal advice. For a realistic read on how a court may view your numbers, book a no-charge 20-minute call with Attorney Liken.
Where The Longmont Law Firm comes in: We fight over the inputs — real income, real earning capacity — because that’s what actually moves the guideline number.
Run the numbers. We'll make them real.
Get a realistic read on how a court may view your numbers. No-charge 20-minute call with Attorney Liken.