What Do Colorado Courts Consider When Calculating Child Support?

On May 27, 2019

How is child support calculated in Colorado?  This short guide explains the guidelines and formulas that judges use to determine amounts each parent will need to contribute to the child’s upbringing.

Factors Used to Calculate Child Support Amounts

When it comes to child support in Colorado, the law sets forth specific requirements as to how the amount is to be calculated. Judges will follow those guidelines or may deviate them as circumstances merit, but in the end, the decision will be made by the judge, not the parents.

Broadly, child support awards in Colorado are based on the:

  • Respective financial resources of each parent

  • Financial resources of the child

  • Needs of the custodial parent

  • Physical and emotional condition of the child, and

  • The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage or civil union not been dissolved.

How Colorado Child Support Calculations Can get Complicated

If all that was involved in determining child support amounts in Colorado was simple math, then you wouldn’t need much more than a calculator to figure out the size of the monthly check to be written. But things are often much more complicated.

Disputes can arise as to how to determine what the appropriate child support numbers should be. For example, one parent may dispute what the other parent considers the proper amount of their “financial resources” and gross income to be applied to the calculations. Both parents may have different views as to what the child’s needs are, which in turn impacts what they see as the costs of raising the child.

A Colorado Springs judge will need to evaluate these competing arguments to determine what the correct amount is under the guidelines. Additionally, the judge has broad authority to deviate from the guidelines if he or she believes that applying them in a particular case would be inequitable or grossly unfair to one of the parents or the child.

Related: Calculating Child Support Payments – Colorado DHS Website

Your Colorado Springs Child Support Attorney May Need to Dig Deeper

Making things more complicated for the judge is the fact that one parent may be actively trying to reduce the amount they need to pay in child support by actively engaging in underhanded divorce tricks such as concealing assets or intentionally reducing their income through “voluntary underemployment.”

Uncovering such fraud and deceit can be a daunting task. An experienced and determined Colorado Springs family law attorney, working with accounting and financial experts, can expose these efforts for what they are and ensure that the judge has a complete and accurate picture of the spouse’s finances when making child support determinations.

When choosing a Colorado Springs child support lawyer, make sure he or she has a full understanding of the law, a well-developed ability to engage in complicated economic and income analysis, and the advocacy skills and experience to obtain the most favorable outcome possible.

Attorney Bryson Perkins can help you understand your options and guide you through the Colorado child support process so you are comfortable and satisfied that you are being taken care of every step of the way.

Contact us to schedule a free consultation with a Colorado Springs family law attorney.

More to Explore

Choosing a Child Support Attorney 

How Does “Voluntary Underemployment” Affect Colorado Child Support Obligations?

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