Child support can feel complicated, but at its heart, it’s simple: it’s about ensuring children have the financial support they need. From the court’s perspective, child support is not a right of either parent, it’s the right of the child. That principle has existed for centuries, long before modern divorce courts or child support guidelines.
A Brief History of Child Support
Child support has been around for centuries. Its roots trace back to England’s Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601, which required parents, particularly fathers, to support their children financially so that local communities didn’t have to bear the cost. This established a fundamental principle: parents, not the state, are responsible for raising their children.
When English laws came to the American colonies, the same ideas applied.
As a result, early American laws mirrored the English system, focusing on preventing children from becoming “public charges.” By the 19th century, many states enacted statutes holding fathers financially responsible for children born outside of marriage.
In 1975, the federal government created the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to ensure noncustodial parents contribute financially and to reduce reliance on welfare programs. Today, child support continues to balance economic responsibility, public welfare, and moral and social expectations.
How Child Support Is Calculated
In Colorado, child support is not arbitrary but based on guidelines designed to ensure consistency. In applying the child support guidelines, courts consider factors like:
• Each parent’s income
• The number of children
• Parenting time and the number of overnights with each parent
• The child’s needs, including health insurance, childcare, and extraordinary expenses
Colorado recently updated the child support guidelines. Each parent’s gross monthly income, or potential income is determined. The guidelines estimate what portion of that income goes to the cost of raising the child or children. Adjustments are then made for parenting time schedules, extraordinary medical costs, special education needs, or other predictable monthly expenses.
Common Misconceptions
Many people assume that the more money you make, the more child support you pay. Most people would be surprised to learn that while this is generally true, it’s not true for people with a combined monthly gross of over $30,000, with some important excepts. What that means? A person earning $1million a year can pay the same amount of child support as someone making $360,000.
Under Colorado’s current rules:
• Once the parents’ combined gross monthly income exceeds $30,000, the guideline amount no longer automatically increases. A parent must ask the court for special findings to go above that number. Think special needs, having a child that is an Olympic level tennis champion, personal security for those in the public eye. This is called extrapolation of child support, and it’s a thing.
• Starting March 1, 2026, the threshold rises to $40,000.
Determining Gross Income
If you’re a W-2 employee, it’s pretty simple. It’s your gross income. Income calculations include bonuses. However, while income includes mandatory overtime (think firefighters, nurses), it does not automatically include voluntary overtime. If you own a business, income is determined by your pre-tax gross profit minus reasonable expenses. If the Court finds that a parent is not working to their full earning potential, it may find that parent to be voluntarily underemployed. In that case, the Court can use a gross income it believes a parent is capable of earning and “impute” that income to the parent when calculating child support even though the Court cannot force a parent to get a job or change jobs. The exceptions are a parent caring for a child under the age of twenty-four months and full-time students working toward an education designed to increase their earning capacity.
Parenting Time Matters
Support also depends on parenting time. More overnights can reduce the amount one parent pays. While financial incentives can sometimes influence custody decisions, or incentive a parent to ask for more parenting time than they can realistically handle – the child’s best interests should always guide parenting time arrangements—not just money.
Why Child Support Still Matters
Child support ensures that children have the resources they need to thrive. It protects them from financial instability, reinforces parental responsibility, and keeps the burden off public programs. While it can sometimes feel like a point of conflict between parents, the goal is always the child’s well-being.
Need Help Navigating Child Support?
If you have questions about how child support works, recent guideline changes, or how your parenting time affects your obligations, the experienced attorneys at Searcy Friedman Law can guide you through the process. We focus on protecting the best interests of your children while helping parents understand and fulfill their legal responsibilities.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you navigate child support and family law matters with clarity and confidence.
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