How is Child Support Determined in Colorado?

While terminating your marriage with your spouse, you must abide by Colorado’s child support terms. Colorado’s laws determine this per the gross income of both parents. The legal guidelines indicate the share of a divorced couple’s total revenue that should support the child.

At Combs & Brown, we specialize in offering consultative advocacy that explores Colorado’s child support policies. Consult our team of legal experts for a briefing on appropriate guidelines that won’t land you in trouble.

We exemplify the factors below to determine your child support in Colorado.

Real and Expected Income

Colorado’s policy considers your actual as well as potential income levels when calculating the amount of child support. Our practice evaluates the share per the proportion of your income as parents. The amount apportioned to the non-custodial payment represents the support payment.

Colorado’s system allows the formulation of financial support based on expected income. It occurs if a parent is not working. Colorado addresses the issue by permitting the court to determine the basis of underemployment or unemployment.

Additional factors determining the amount of support also include:

Parents’ employability status
The earnings’ history
Parents’ education

However, if a parent caters to the couple’s young child, potential income cannot determine the amount of support. We ascertain how exclusion applies if the parent faces long-term incarceration.

Parenting Time Agreement

The parenting time agreement influences the non-custodial parent’s support responsibilities. Colorado’s Human Services Department also provides a suitable formulation for determining the amount of child support.

If you have numerous overnight visits with your child, the support reduces. The state law adjusts the models once you have night visits with your child as a custodial parent.

The team at Combs & Brown will assist you in generating a comprehensive basis for ascertaining an appropriate time agreement that matches the threshold.

Adjustments to the Child Support

Colorado’s legal guidelines also impose certain adjustments to the amount of child support. The main variables include:

Abnormal childcare costs: Once child expenditure rises, the share of financial support increases. These costs include education as well as medical bills. As a parent, you will share the extraordinary expenses in proportion to the individual income levels.

If the child has special needs such as long-term health concerns, the policy incorporates the expenses in the calculation. Additionally, a parent who didn’t incur medical costs must reimburse the other partner per the allocated proportions.

Excessively high or low gross income: A variance in the gross income determines the rate of adjustment in the support.
Parents financial duties: As a parent who pays alimony, this will reduce the mandatory support payment. Other exclusions include paying the child’s maintenance costs or expenses relating to the dependents’ care.
Child’s health insurance: A child’s health insurance costs are also suitable for adjusting the support payments. A parent’s proportion increases if the parent pays the cover and is still a recipient.

The Case of Arrearages

The arrearages include the total amount of unpaid support that contravenes Colorado’s policy provisions. If you stop paying support, the pending amount accumulates. In fact, serious consequences can also occur if you fall behind in paying the payments.

At Combs & Brown, we recommend an income assignment initiative to ensure you meet the legal requirements in paying support. The arrangement involves partnering with the state to instruct your employer to withhold child support and send it to the Family Support Registry (FSR).

Are You Stuck in Paying Your Child Support?

Regardless of your family issues, you owe your children support to cover their education, food, clothing, as well as medical bills. Combs & Brown believes in compliance with the law and guarantees transparency at our unit.