Colorado’s child support statute considers the combined gross income of both parents, the number of children, and each parent’s proportional share of overnights to produce a presumptive support figure. The legal model also accounts for adjustments such as health insurance costs, extraordinary medical expenses, and work-related childcare costs.
While the statutory guidelines provide a formulaic starting point, cases frequently involve complexities that require a deeper analysis of business income, stock compensation, fluctuating earnings, or imputation of income to an underemployed or unemployed parent. Courts may also deviate from the guidelines when strict application would be inequitable, considering the financial resources of the parents and the child, the standard of living the child would have enjoyed absent the dissolution, and the child’s physical, emotional, and educational needs.
Our firm handles both initial support determinations and modification proceedings. We work closely with financial experts when warranted, ensuring that all sources of income are identified and that the resulting support obligation reflects the full economic circumstances of both households and the child’s needs. For high-income families in particular, child support intersects with maintenance and property division in ways that require integrated, forward-looking planning.
