How is Child Support Determined in Colorado?

Courts follow a formula that was decided upon by the state legislature to determine child support for Colorado parents.

This formula generally combines the gross incomes of both parents, sets up a basic child support obligation based on combined parental incomes, and divides the child support obligation between the parents based on their shared total parental income.

If a parent is unemployed, employed only part-time, or underemployed, courts can "impute" income to that parent, which means the court can determine what a parent could potentially earn if s/he were fully employed.

Various factors are taken into account in determining child support, including but not limited to:

• Parenting time the child(ren) have with each parent;

• Whether a parent is currently paying child support for another child, and whether s/he is paying alimony/maintenance to the other parent or a previous spouse;

• Whether parents have other children in their home;

• How much a parent is paying for health insurance for the child(ren), and how much a parent is paying for work-related and/or education-related childcare.

Additional Questions?

The Child Support Office has additional answers, and can be found through this link.

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