Family Law, Divorce, Custody and Child Support Attorneys in Denver, Colorado

Calculation for Child Support

If the Colorado legislature did one thing right, it was to give us a formula for child support. We can argue about how fair the numbers are but very rarely do we hear people complain about the structure and its function.

The Colorado child support formula takes the gross incomes of the parties, allows for certain deductions from those incomes, and adds them together. From the combined adjusted gross income, a “lifestyle” (our word, not the law’s) number for the child is identified from the database. We imagine the “lifestyle” number to be the children’s share of the income.

Next, the “lifestyle” number is apportioned to each parent, based on the number of overnights and a percentage of their contribution to the combined income. What you’re left with after this stage, is what each parent owes to the “lifestyle” number – we call it the “parent’s share”.

Then the parents get certain deductions from their respective “parent’s share”. These deductions are sometime straight forward, like daycare expenses and children’s share of health insurance premiums. But other times, these deductions are less clear, like summer camp, reading programs, tutors, and private school tuition.

At the end of the formula, after these deductions are taken, the “parent shares” are compared and a final child support number is kicked out.

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Primary Factors For Child Support

The primary factors of a child support calculation are:

• Respective gross incomes of the parties
• Number of overnights
• Heath insurance premiums (children’s portion)
• Work related childcare expenses
• Any maintenance obligation a party might have or receive
• Other child support payments made or received

Each of these factors may play an important role in determining a support obligation. It is important to carefully review each one with your lawyer to determine its impact on the calculation.

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But I Can’t Afford Child Support!

This is an all too common reactions when a parent sees the child support number produced by the formula for the first time. At a time when the family expenses probably just went form one set, to two, the number may present a parent with a nearly insurmountable obstacle. That’s why it’s important to get an idea of what this support may look like as early on in the case as possible.

An early estimate of a support obligation will help parents plan for future expenses. For example, if, prior to moving out of the marital home, the moving parent hires a lawyer to run the support worksheets for them, they’ll be able to adjust any future rent they pay to accommodate this figure.

Major adjusts to financial budgets are just part of divorce, but even more so when child support is an issue. Since child support cannot be “waived” without the support of the formula, a support obligation is probably a fact of life which is better addressed early on.

Yet even with significant modifications of budgets, some parents just can’t make the payments. This may be because they carry so much debt (which isn’t figured into the support worksheets) that any “spare” money is being soaked up servicing these obligations instead of their child support. It’s important to understand that child support is a judgment on the day its due and wage garnishments are generally easy to get in this context.

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