Child Support

Parents have a legal duty to help support their children. Paying or receiving child support can be stressful. This guide explains your rights and obligations and how child support works in Colorado, including how it’s calculated, changed, and enforced.

Where do child support orders come from?

Generally, child support is ordered by a judge. It can be part of a divorce, a custody case, which is also called Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (APR), or a paternity case. Sometimes a state agency can seek child support orders in court through support proceedings.

How is child support calculated?

The judge follows the law, which has a formula to determine child support. There is a list of factors the judge considers, which are addressed below.  

Child support is based in part on each parent’s gross income (before taxes).

• Gross income includes the money you earn from wages, self-employment earnings, commissions, bonuses, pension and retirement benefits, Social Security Retirement, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and unemployment benefits.
• For calculating child support, gross income does not include public benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
• If one parent is voluntarily unemployed or earning far less than they could, the judge may impute income. That means the court can assign that parent an estimated income based on that person’s potential income, instead of just their current income.

The judge adjusts the amount of child support for things like:

• Number of overnights—or nights the child spends—with each parent
• Health insurance costs
• Ongoing medical costs for things like prescription drugs, therapy, and braces
• Educational costs
• Childcare costs

How is child support paid?

Usually, child support is paid through the State of Colorado’s Family Support Registry (FSR) for accurate record keeping. Sometimes the judge orders, or the parents agree to, something different, like direct payment between parents. Child support may also be collected through a wage garnishment or income assignment.

How do I modify or end child support?

Whether you are paying child support or receiving child support, you can ask the court to change child support at any time by filing the right court forms. 

To succeed, you must show there is a substantial and continuing change in circumstances, like:

• Your income has changed
• The other parent’s income has changed
• Health insurance costs have changed or you have new health insurance costs that weren’t a part of the original order
• Childcare costs have changed
• The parenting time schedule changed
• Your child is now emancipated (usually when they turn 19 unless the child is still in high school or has a disability)

The changed circumstance must cause at least a 10% change to the current child support amount.

• For example, if child support is $1,000 a month, the changed circumstance must justify changing the child support amount by at least $100 per month.

For more detailed information, see our step-by-step guide How to Change a Child Support Order.

How is child support enforced?

You must pay child support on time and in full. If you do not pay child support, it does not go away, it goes toward a balance that you will eventually have to pay with interest. Even the judge in your case cannot forgive unpaid child support.

Child support enforcement methods can include:

• Automatic income assignment: This is when the paying parent’s employer is required to withhold wages and send them to Child Support Services which sends them to the receiving parent
• Contempt of court for nonpayment: This is when a judge finds that the paying parent had the money but willfully chose not to pay
• Interception of tax refunds, suspension of licenses, or denial of passport applications: These are actions the county Child Support Services (CSS) can take against a paying parent who owes child support
   

If you are owed unpaid child support:

• You can seek help from the Colorado Child Support Services (CSS) Program 
• If you believe the paying parent had the money but chose not to pay, you could file a motion for contempt or enforcement with the court that issued the original order

If you cannot pay child support:

• You can contact your county Child Support Office for assistance
• You can file a Motion to Modify Child Support if there’s a substantial and continuing change in circumstances that justifies at least a 10% change to the amount you owe

Contact Colorado Child Support Services for more information about child support, or to apply for help collecting child support payments, changing an existing child support order, or setting up a child support order.

Need more help?

If you are low-income, a senior, or a veteran, you may qualify for free legal help from Colorado Legal Services (CLS). To apply or ask if you might qualify, go to the CLS website and find the office that serves your area. If you call or visit, CLS can help you in your native language.

You can get help from the courts. Every judicial district has staff called “Sherlocks” to help people with their legal questions. To find the Sherlock in your county, visit the Judicial Department’s Sherlock webpage.