How Does Colorado Calculate Child Support?

Divorced parents and co-parents have unique challenges. It is difficult to raise a child in two separate homes, and there are many factors to consider. Child support is one of these factors.

The law requires that both of a child’s parents contribute equally to raising their child. This can be done through time spent as the child’s guardian, financial contributions, or, in many cases, both. Ideally, each parent would spend an equal percentage of their time and respective incomes caring for the child. However, in most scenarios, there is an imbalance between the parents’ guardianship time or income. In these situations, the court orders child support.

Child support calculations are important for those who must consider them in their budgets. If you are paying or receiving child support, or will soon be doing either one, you need to understand how the state of Colorado calculates child support payments.

The Basic Equation

To calculate child support, the court begins by calculating the gross income of each parent. Gross income includes:

• Salary or work income
• Public assistance income
• Retirement plan income

Once the court has the gross income of each parent individually, they add them together. Child support should account for about 20% of the combined gross income of both of the child’s parents. For each additional child, an additional 10% of the shared gross income should be calculated.

For example, suppose that Parent A and Parent B each make $100,000. Combined, this is $200,000. The parents have two children together, so 30% of their income should be devoted to child rearing. 30% of $200,000 is $60,000.

Split between the two parents, each parent should be responsible for $30,000 per year of child rearing. If one parent has sole custody, they are inherently spending more money than the other parent. The non-custodial parent will need to pay a higher portion of their income as child support.

Additional Factors

The above example is very simple, and real situations often have more mitigating factors. The court will consider many things when determining child support, including:

• The finances of both parents.
• The age and personal finances of the child.
• The child’s extenuating needs.
• The child’s standard of living before the divorce.
• The health of both parents.

These factors can all have a strong impact on child support. It is often difficult to say how much your child support payments will be, though an attorney can give you a better estimate.

Why Child Support Attorneys are Important

Some people attempt to navigate their child support case without legal help. Doing this makes the process much more complicated than it needs to be. With the help of a trained attorney, you can get a good estimate of what child support payments may look like after your court case. Your attorney can also develop a case in your favor to make sure that the child support agreement is fair and takes everything into consideration. An attorney gives you a voice in these proceedings, which is essential if you wish to make sure that the court understands your circumstances.

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