The formula, what counts as income, why overnights matter, and when support ends — the second-most-searched family law topic, in plain English.
Charles E. Liken Jr., Esq. — On Colorado's Legal Front Lines Since 1995 · Government Investigator, Denver Human Services (1997–2003) · Licensed Colorado Attorney Since 2003 ~ 20+ Years in Private Practice · Colorado Deputy District Attorney (2018–2020) · Colorado Court-Appointed Child and Family Investigator
Colorado child support isn't a negotiation from zero — it's a guideline formula under §14-10-115, C.R.S. Know the inputs and you know the fight.
Colorado uses an income-shares model: both parents' gross monthly incomes are combined, the guideline sets the child's share, and each parent covers a proportional slice.
Where LLF comes in: We make sure the incomes in the worksheet are the right incomes — documented, complete, and honestly stated on both sides.
Salaries, bonuses, commissions, overtime patterns, self-employment draws, rental income — and if a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, courts can impute income they could be earning.
Where LLF comes in: Self-employment games and convenient career downgrades are exactly where an investigator's background pays off.
At 93+ overnights a year the calculation shifts to a shared-physical-care worksheet, and each additional overnight changes the number. Schedules and support are mathematically linked.
Where LLF comes in: We model your proposed schedules through the worksheet (JDF 1821) so you see the real dollars before you agree to anything.
Health insurance premiums for the kids, work-related childcare, and extraordinary medical or activity expenses ride on top of the base figure and get allocated between parents.
Where LLF comes in: We chase the add-on documentation people forget — premiums, receipts, reimbursements — on both sides of the ledger.
Support generally continues until 19 in Colorado — longer for a child still in high school or with a disability. Modification requires a substantial and continuing change (a ≥10% swing in the guideline amount).
Where LLF comes in: Job change, schedule change, new child? We run the numbers first and file fast — modifications only reach back to the filing date, so waiting literally costs money.
Ready when you are — talk it through with Charles.
Your choice: no-charge 20-minute phone call OR in-depth hour ($300) — both directly with Charles.
Both parents' gross monthly incomes are combined under the §14-10-115 income-shares guideline, adjusted for the number of overnights, health insurance, and childcare costs, producing a presumptive monthly amount.
Generally at age 19, with extensions while a child is still in high school and for children with disabilities. It can end earlier on emancipation, marriage, or active military duty.
Only with court approval. Support is the child's right, so judges review zero-support agreements closely and must make findings supporting any deviation from the guideline.
Courts can impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, calculating support from what they reasonably could earn instead of what they choose to earn.
Unpaid support collects compounding interest in Colorado, converts to judgments, and supports wage assignments, license consequences, and contempt. “We had a side deal” is not a defense — informal agreements don't change the order.
If you're the one who can't pay, the answer is a modification motion now, not silence. Courts respect parents who file before the hole gets deep; they hammer the ones who just stop paying.
Withholding parenting time over unpaid support — or withholding support over missed weekends — puts you in violation too. Each order gets enforced on its own track, and we'll run the right one.
Twenty minutes with the team now beats twenty billable hours untangling it later.