Denver Child Support Attorneys: Securing Your Child’s Future

Strategic Guidance for Colorado Child Support Matters in Denver

Are you struggling in the aftermath of your divorce to secure your child’s financial future? Colorado child support laws are complicated, but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.

Here at Jones Law Firm, PC, we bring over 175 years of combined experience as child support attorneys in Colorado. We inform you of your rights, obligations, and options to create a comprehensive legal strategy that leads to the best possible outcome for your children.

Whether you’re securing a figure that serves your child’s needs, applying for a modification, or battling to enforce an existing child support order, your child support lawyer in Denver fights to achieve the best possible outcome.

Let us support you in writing a new chapter in your family’s life because we’re only on one side. Yours.

Resolving Colorado Child Support Issues With Care and Consideration

Bookending one chapter of your life and starting another always takes an emotional toll. Add children and the financial anxiety and upcoming child support issues to come, and it can all feel too much.

You and your child deserve fair financial support, and child support attorneys in Denver, CO, ensure your family’s best interests are at the forefront of an aggressive legal strategy. We know how complex these legal battles can be, and we know that you want what’s best for your children.

A Jones Law Firm, PC, Denver child support lawyer helps you navigate Colorado child support laws to achieve a fair outcome that puts your child’s future at the heart of your case.

Achieve financial stability for a better tomorrow with your trusted partner in child support and custody issues by contacting us to schedule your confidential consultation today.

The Colorado Income Shares Model Explained

What do Colorado child support laws entitle you to?

The Colorado Revised Statutes Section §14-10-115 outlines the Income Shares Model to decide how much child support you receive post-separation. The two principles of Colorado child support guidelines are:

1. Both parents share financial responsibility for their child.
2. The child receives the same proportion of parental income as they would receive if their parents continued to live together.

For example, if Parent A earns $6,000 monthly and Parent B earns $4,000 for a household income of $10,000, the guidelines may state that a combined contribution of $1,250 monthly is needed to support the child. That would mean Parent A and Parent B must provide $750 and $500, respectively, assuming adjustments for parenting time, health insurance, childcare, and other factors.

It may sound straightforward enough, and a child support calculator in Colorado may provide a basic idea of what you may be entitled to, but it’s rarely that simple.

Determining Parental Income for Child Support

Calculating child support in Colorado begins with establishing each parent’s gross income. This includes all income sources, including:

• Salaries
• Tips
• Bonuses
• Overtime
• Commissions
• Rental income
• Self-employment earnings
• Trust income
• Pension payouts
• Severance pay

Crucially, certain welfare benefits are excluded, such as Social Security Income. But what if one parent is unemployed or underemployed?

Intentional income manipulation is a problem that has deprived thousands of families of the child support they’re entitled to in the past. Under Colorado law, if a parent is considered “voluntarily” unemployed or underemployed, courts may assign “potential income” based on factors like previous salaries, qualifications, and local employment conditions.

Once gross income has been established, this acts as the baseline for the Colorado child support percentage you could receive.

How Parenting Time (Overnights) Affects Child Support

Parenting time and child support in Colorado are key adjustment calculations for deciding what level of child support is fair for each parent. It acknowledges where the child spends their time and who pays for child-rearing costs.

In Colorado, we have two distinctions:

•  Solo Physical Care – The child spends fewer than 93 nights annually with one parent.
• Shared Physical Care – Both parents have their child for 93 or more nights annually. Shared care arrangements are taken into account to manage duplicate costs.

Colorado child support overnights consider the actual costs of childcare. More overnights will reduce the child support owed when there’s genuine shared financial responsibility involved. Courts don’t just look at time but also the actual financial contributions made by both parents.

Accounting for Additional Child-Related Expenses

Another part of child support calculations in Colorado is any additional expenses that crop up and how they’re divided. Examples include:

• Child health insurance premiums
•  Educational costs
• Work-related childcare expenses
• Extraordinary medical expenses, such as necessary treatments not covered by insurance

Extraordinary medical expenses in child support may or may not apply to you because every case is unique. Judges have broad authority to consider a range of expenses in this category, including the cost of disabilities, long-distance parenting, and extracurricular activities.

Estimating Your Child Support Obligation/Receipt

Using a child support calculator in Colorado, such as the state government’s official calculator, gives you a ballpark figure, but it’s nothing more than a rough idea.

For over 20 years, our family law firm has known that divorce proceedings throw up surprises, which is why we know that until you have complete financial disclosures and verified income data, estimated child support in Colorado is little more than an idea. Online tools don’t account for exceptional circumstances, extra expenses, disputed parenting responsibilities/obligations, and a true picture of someone’s income.

The only way to find out for sure is to hire a qualified family attorney and go through the process, because every case is unique and your child deserves every last dollar they’re legally entitled to.

Can Parents Agree to No Child Support in Colorado?

Waiving child support in Colorado is generally not an option. Legally, child support belongs to the child, not the parents. Furthermore, courts are the final authority in the matter, and their priority is not to punish parents or favor one side over the other but to guarantee that the child’s needs and best interests are met in full.

Even if both parents agree to waive child support, only a court can approve such an agreement, and only if the child’s financial needs are met. In the vast majority of cases, the threshold for waiving child support will not be reached.

Of course, there are exceptions, but these are extraordinarily rare. For example, if a parent with full custody has a seven-figure income and the other parent is disabled, unable to work, and lives on public assistance, this could be a situation where child support payments may be waived since the disabled parent may have no income and no potential income.

Public assistance is also a massive consideration, even when both parents agree to no child support. If the custodial parent already receives public assistance, a court may still mandate child support payments to offset those welfare payments in the interests of the public pocketbook.

Child Support for Unmarried Parents in Colorado

Colorado makes no distinction between married and unmarried parents. The legal obligations and rights remain the same.

Paternity and child support in Colorado for unmarried parents begins with establishing paternity beyond all doubt. There are two ways to do this:

1.  Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) – The VAP form can be signed by both parents either at a hospital after the birth or later on at a child support office. This legal document recognizes the father of the child and allows his name to be included on the birth certificate.
2. Court–Ordered Paternity Test – In disputed paternity cases, either parent may petition the court to order a DNA test to establish paternity. Once this is done, the child support process may proceed.

After establishing paternity, the same process using the Income Shares Model applies to unmarried parents as it does to married parents to verify the appropriate level of child support. Legal representation in establishing paternity and dealing with the motions and paperwork in doing so is crucial to protect your rights as a parent and secure the better tomorrow your child deserves.

Modifying Child Support Orders in Colorado

Life happens, and circumstances change.

The law recognizes this, and so there is an established process to change child support in Colorado. Whether it’s changes to parenting time, income shifts, or your child growing up, knowing how to modify a child support order in Colorado ensures their needs continue to be met.

The law states that child support orders may be modified if there are “substantial and continuing” changes in your circumstances. Typically, this means there’s at least a 10% difference in the monthly child support amount.

Examples might include:

• Big increase/decrease in one or both parents’ income.
• Changes to your child’s medical needs.
• Changes to your child’s educational expenses.
• New custody arrangements.
•  Changes to parenting time.
• Child emancipation.

Note that voluntary income reductions or temporary changes might not meet the qualifying threshold to alter a child support order. If you believe circumstances have changed sufficiently, we can support you during the legal process to alter your child support.

So, how does it work?

1. File Form JDF 1403 (Motion to Modify Child Support) with the court that issued your original child support order.
2. Supply updated financial information.
3. Allow the court to review the motion and disclosures. Court-ordered mediation procedures may apply in disputes.
4. Wait for the court to approve and supply the date from which the new motion is effective. Generally, these motions aren’t applied retroactively.

As you can see, there are established legal procedures in place and a mountain of required paperwork. Accuracy, advocating for your interests, and clarity in any changes are often difficult to understand. Working with an attorney ensures you understand the process and have the guiding hand needed to make it as straightforward as possible.

Enforcing Child Support Orders in Denver and Colorado

Enforcing child support orders in Colorado is taken extremely seriously, with the state having established procedures to claw back unpaid obligations. All such orders are legally binding and come with clear punishments for parents who flout them.

Missed payments are classified as arrears. Back child support in Colorado is a debt that accumulates interest for as long as it remains outstanding, just like any other form of debt. However, unlike other forms of debt, child support is a legal duty, meaning there are real legal consequences involved.

Together with the courts, the Colorado Child Support Services (CSS) program works to enforce these orders with tools like:

• Wage garnishment
• Tax refund intercepts
• Professional/driver’s/recreational license suspension
• Property liens
• Bank account levies
• Credit bureau reporting
• Contempt of court charges

Child support enforcement in Colorado is uncompromising and effective, but how do you get the ball rolling? The enforcement process can be less than straightforward, which is where legal representation is crucial.

The attorneys at Jones Law Firm, PC, are experts in aggressively pursuing delinquent parents. We work together with the CSS to outline appropriate enforcement, file relevant forms, and represent you throughout court proceedings.

Don’t let non-compliant parents hurt your child’s financial future by leaving you with a shortfall every month. Contact us for your free consultation today.

At What Age Does Child Support End in Colorado?

The Colorado child support termination age is 19 in the vast majority of circumstances because this is the legal age of emancipation. On their 19^th birthday, they’re considered financially independent and are therefore no longer entitled to further child support payments.

Like in so many aspects of child support law, some exceptions could still mean a child is entitled to support payments, including:

• High School – Your child is still a full-time high school student (or equivalent). In this case, support payments stop one month after they graduate, or until they turn 21.
• Disability – Children with verified mental or physical disabilities preventing them from supporting themselves are entitled to support payments forever. However, the qualifying disability must have been diagnosed before their 19^th birthdays.
• Mutual Agreement – Parents can voluntarily agree to continue child support payments. For example, some parents agree to this to help their children with college. Courts must agree to make these orders enforceable.

It can also work the other way, where a child loses support payments before their 19^th birthday. Under Colorado law, any act of emancipation would trigger this. The three big emancipation qualifiers are: getting married, joining the military, or being financially independent and supporting oneself.

Note that in multi-child families, the loss of support for one child doesn’t apply to the other children who still qualify. If a child reaches the emancipation age, a parent can apply to modify their child support payments to account for the fact that there’s one less qualifying child.

Do I Need a Child Support Lawyer in Denver?

Answering the question, “Do I need a lawyer to get child support?” is straightforward enough. You’re not legally required to hire one, but you are potentially costing your child by not seeking representation.

Your child’s financial future is at stake, and applying Colorado’s legal principles without a child support lawyer in Denver means negotiating complex details and procedures unique to your case.

By working with experienced child support attorneys in Denver, CO, you face these challenges together with the experts in support calculations, negotiation, and courtroom advocacy.

Protecting Your Rights and Your Child’s Financial Future

Your child has a legal right to financial support that provides for their best interests. Protecting parental rights in Colorado child support means digging into the fine details and providing accurate and fair calculations that put your child first.

Without legal help, you face issues like misreported income, omitted expenses, and incorrect applications of the calculation framework that make a fair child support agreement in Colorado impossible.

Protect your legal rights with the attorney who’s on your side at Jones Law Firm, PC.

Strategic Guidance Through Negotiation or Litigation

No two families are the same, and no two child support cases are the same. Whether you enjoy the luxury of a mutual agreement or a stressful legal battle with your ex-partner, we construct tailored plans that hope for friendly negotiation but prepare for tooth-and-nail litigation.

We’re the masters of negotiating child support in Colorado with opposing counsel, building robust, evidence-based cases, and advocating fiercely in child support hearings.

Finding Clarity and Support During a Difficult Time

Navigating child support stress is the fight of your life. So often do these disputes combine with divorce agreements, custody fights, and new financial hardship. Unlike other law firms, we don’t just file motions. We provide much-needed clarity and objective guidance delivered with an open mind and an open heart.

You’re not alone during what’s possibly the most tumultuous time in your life. Together, we’ll provide consistent updates, a friendly ear, and communication whenever you need it.

Get the support and peace of mind you won’t find with other Denver law firms with Jones Law Firm, PC, today.

Experienced Denver Child Support Advocates: Meet Our Team

April D. Jones

Since 1991, April D. Jones has been fighting for families as an attorney-at-law. As the founder and CEO of Jones Law Firm, PC, she has handled complex child custody cases, prioritizing client outcomes and ensuring the welfare of children across the Centennial State.

April is a leader in the Denver legal community, holding senior positions in the Sam Cary Bar Association, the University of Colorado Hospital Authority Board, and the Colorado Judicial Institute Board of Directors.

David Ari Collins

Since 2004, David has practiced as an attorney with his background in immigration, family, and criminal law. Through his experience working with and on behalf of children in the 1990s, including within the AmeriCorps program, David has a driving passion for supporting families and ensuring all children receive the start in life they deserve.

Hayley Hollands

Hayley stepped into the world of family law in 2016 after spending time honing her skills in Houston, Texas. She specializes in high-conflict cases, dealing with divorce and custody matters, including child support modifications and enforcement.

As an advocate for families across Colorado, she represents her clients’ best interests, aiming to reduce the adverse impact of separations and leave familial units with a positive impact as they step into the next phase of their lives.

Our Commitment: Strength, Strategy, and Empathy for Your Family

Life’s most difficult moments are what forge us into something stronger, but we know that managing the twin challenges of separation and raising children can tax even the most stoic parents.

At Jones Law Firm, PC, we bring 25 years of proven leadership and over a century-and-a-half of combined legal experience across 4,000 Colorado family law cases to support you when you need it most.

As a client who puts their faith in us, you are guaranteed:

1. Strength and stability when you need it most.
2. Bespoke legal strategies to achieve your goals and overcome your challenges.
3. Empathy through listening and targeted legal execution.
4. Client-centric representation from consultation to resolution.
5. Results-driven representation because we believe in outcomes, not processes.

Ultimately, legal battles are about taking sides, and we stand on behalf of parents and their children. We choose sides. Yours.

Let us be your trusted legal partner in life’s most difficult battles. Contact us for your free child support consultation today.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Colorado Child Support

Schedule Your Confidential Consultation Today – Take the First Step Toward Financial Stability

Dealing with child support in Colorado is more than just a formula or a best guess. It requires legal process, understanding your rights, and advocating for your child’s best interests. Get the bespoke legal solutions and ensure your child doesn’t go without by choosing Denver’s most aggressive family law firm as your partner.

Schedule your confidential consultation with an experienced Denver child support attorney by calling 720-513-5987 or using our contact form now.