C.R.S. 14-10-115: Colorado Child Support Guidelines

The Colorado child support guidelines, set out in C.R.S. 14-10-115, use an income shares model: the court combines both parents’ incomes, looks up a base support amount on a statutory schedule tied to the number of children, and divides that amount between the parents in proportion to what each earns. The parent with less parenting time typically pays their share to the other parent. Overnights, health insurance, childcare, and extraordinary medical costs adjust the final number.

What Counts as Income

The starting point is each parent’s gross income, and the statute casts a wide net. It includes salaries, wages, tips, commissions, bonuses, self-employment earnings, dividends, interest, capital gains, rental income, trust income, pensions, royalties, Social Security, workers’ compensation, unemployment, disability insurance, and monetary gifts.¹ If money reaches you regularly, it almost certainly counts.

Self-employed parents report gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses. Money a self-employed parent draws for personal use but writes off as a business expense gets added back into income.¹

Some things stay out. Public assistance like SSI and food stamps are excluded, along with child support received for children from other relationships. From gross income the court then subtracts any preexisting child support obligation and any alimony or maintenance the parent actually pays, producing an adjusted gross income figure.¹

When a Parent Is Voluntarily Unemployed or Underemployed

Quitting a job or taking a lower-paying one does not automatically lower a support obligation. If the court finds a parent voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, it calculates support on potential income instead, weighing work history, job skills, education, age, health, criminal record, and the local job market.²

Income is not imputed to a parent who is physically or mentally incapacitated, a parent caring for a child under 24 months old for whom both parents share legal responsibility, or a parent serving a jail or prison sentence of 180 days or more. The statute also protects good-faith career decisions: a temporary position expected to lead to higher earnings, a career change that does not unreasonably reduce support, or enrollment in a degree or vocational program reasonably expected to raise future income.² The question in every case is whether the choice was made in good faith rather than to duck the obligation.

How the Basic Obligation Is Calculated

Once each parent’s adjusted gross income is set, the court combines the two figures into a single monthly total. That combined income is matched to a statutory schedule that assigns a base support obligation based on the number of children. Higher combined incomes produce higher dollar obligations, though the percentage of income allocated to the children gradually decreases as combined income rises.¹

The base obligation is then divided between the parents in proportion to their share of combined income. If one parent earns 65% of the combined total, that parent is responsible for 65% of the base amount. That proportional split is the engine of the whole formula.¹

Low-Income Minimum Orders

For a paying parent with monthly adjusted gross income between $650 and $1,500, the standard formula is replaced by a fixed minimum: $50 for one child, $70 for two, $90 for three, $110 for four, $130 for five, and $150 for six or more. Even with childcare or medical add-ons, the total obligation in this income band cannot exceed 20% of adjusted gross income. For a parent earning $650 or less per month, the minimum drops to $10 per month regardless of the number of children.³

How Overnights Change the Math

The number of nights a child spends with each parent decides which worksheet the court uses, and the switch between them can meaningfully change the final number.

If one parent has 92 or fewer overnights per year, the court applies Worksheet A for sole physical care. The parent with fewer overnights pays their proportional share of the base obligation to the other parent, because the primary household is absorbing most of the daily costs.⁴

When both parents have at least 93 overnights each, the case moves to Worksheet B for shared physical care.⁴ Worksheet B multiplies the base support obligation by 1.5 to account for the duplicated costs of running two households where the child actually lives part-time.⁵ After that adjustment, each parent’s share is offset by their percentage of overnights, producing a net payment from one parent to the other.

The 92-night threshold matters in practice. Moving from 91 to 93 overnights flips worksheets, and parenting schedules sitting on that line tend to be heavily negotiated.

Costs That Sit on Top of the Base

The base obligation covers food, clothing, and shelter. Several categories are added to the calculation and divided proportionally by income.

The parent who carries the child’s health insurance gets credit for the portion of the premium attributable to the child. If a family plan costs $600 per month and the child’s share is $150, only $150 enters the calculation.

Work-related childcare — daycare, after-school programs, or care needed while a parent works or attends school — is added to the total obligation and split by income share.

Uninsured medical costs above $250 per child per calendar year qualify as extraordinary medical expenses. These include copays, deductibles, orthodontia, dental care, asthma treatment, physical therapy, vision, and mental health counseling. The parent seeking reimbursement must provide proof within a reasonable time; missing the deadline (generally July 1 of the year after the expense) waives the right to reimbursement. If the other parent does not respond or agree to a payment arrangement within 49 days, the requesting parent can file a motion for judgment.³

When a Judge Can Depart From the Guideline Amount

The guideline number is presumed correct. A judge can order a different amount only after stating the reasons on the record and identifying what the standard calculation would have produced.¹ The statute recognizes several situations that may justify a departure:

One parent spends substantially more time with the child than the raw overnight count reflects.
A parent or their current spouse has extraordinary medical expenses that reduce available income.
Exercising parenting time carries extraordinary travel costs, such as when parents live far apart.
The gap between the parents’ earnings is so large that the standard formula produces an unreasonable result.
A parent owns substantial nonincome-producing assets.
Consistent overtime or second-job income not already reflected in gross income.

Deviations are the exception, and appellate courts scrutinize them, which is why the written-findings requirement exists.¹

Changing an Existing Order

Under C.R.S. 14-10-122, either parent can move to modify support by showing a substantial and continuing change in circumstances.⁶ Job loss, a significant raise, a changed parenting schedule, or new medical needs are common triggers.

Colorado applies a concrete threshold: if recalculating the obligation under current circumstances would change the monthly amount by less than 10%, the court will not treat the change as substantial.⁶ A modest raise or a small drop in hours usually won’t clear the bar.

Timing matters. Modifications generally take effect from the date the motion is filed, not from when the change actually happened. Courts cannot make modifications retroactive to a date before filing unless the parents mutually agreed to a change in physical custody.⁶ If your circumstances have shifted enough to warrant a change, file sooner rather than later. Every month of delay is a month locked into the old amount.

When Support Ends

Child support in Colorado generally runs until the child turns 19, not 18. If the child has not yet graduated high school at 19, support may continue until graduation under certain conditions.

It can end earlier through emancipation by marriage, military enlistment, or a court order. It can also continue past 19 if a child is mentally or physically disabled and the disability existed before emancipation; the court can order continued support, including medical expenses and insurance.² A disability that develops after 19 does not restart the obligation.

One boundary worth noting: Colorado does not automatically require parents to pay college tuition or other post-secondary costs through the child support formula. Parents can agree to share those expenses in a separation agreement or parenting plan, and courts will enforce that agreement, but if the settlement is silent on college, the guideline formula does not fill the gap.

1
Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
2
Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
3
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 14 Domestic Matters 14-10-115 – Child Support Guidelines
4
Colorado Child Support Services. Frequently Asked Questions
5
Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 1821 – Support Worksheet for Child and Spousal Support
6
Justia Law. Colorado Code 14-10-122 – Modification of Child Support