By Attorney Charles E. Liken Jr., Colorado court-appointed Child and Family Investigator. The formula, what counts as income, why overnights matter, and when support ends, in plain English.
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 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 The Longmont Law Firm 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 The Longmont Law Firm comes in: Self-employment games and convenient career downgrades are where careful document review matters.
Since March 1, 2026, every overnight counts: the parenting-time credit table in C.R.S. § 14-10-115(8)(h) gives a credit starting with the first overnight, so each additional overnight changes the number. Schedules and support are mathematically linked.
Where The Longmont Law Firm 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 The Longmont Law Firm comes in: We chase the add-on documentation people forget — premiums, receipts, reimbursements — on both sides of the ledger.
Support generally continues until age 19 in Colorado, unless the child is still in high school (it runs through the month after graduation), a court extends it for a child with a disability, or the parents agree otherwise (C.R.S. § 14-10-115(13)(a)); marriage or active military duty emancipates a child earlier. Modification requires a substantial and continuing change of circumstances. A recalculation that changes support by less than 10% is deemed not to be one (C.R.S. § 14-10-122(1)(b)); a 10% or larger change clears that threshold, but the court still decides whether the change is substantial and continuing.
Where The Longmont Law Firm 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 Attorney Liken.
Start here: a no-charge 20-minute phone call directly with Attorney Liken.
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, unless the child is still in high school (support runs through the month after graduation), a court extends support for a child with a disability, or the parents agree otherwise (C.R.S. § 14-10-115(13)(a)). 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 tend to respond better to parents who file before the hole gets deep than to parents who simply 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.
A no-charge 20-minute call with Attorney Liken can help you sort out your next step.
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