Colorado Child Support Under New Law in 2026 for All Cases
Learning how Colorado judges calculate child support and maintenance can often be complex. And, the child support law changed on March 1, 2026.
Only seasoned attorneys have the tools needed to understand Colorado’s approach to determining income, which is the first step in the analysis. And it’s often contested what the other party’s income really is, especially if they are self-employed, have a business or have a highly compensated job with bonuses, commissions, or other forms of compensation.. In-depth analysis of income streams, the “double dip,” allowable business expenses, variable compensation and income imputation for the purpose of helping the Court craft fair and appropriate support awards.
Child support is formulaic, with rare deviations from the formula but the numbers that go into the formula are often subject to argument. And there is an advisory formula for the calculation of maintenance. For the “normal” case, the Judge can use W-2’s or paystubs to determine the parties’ incomes for the purposes of support calculations. In today’s world, however, many times the W-2/paystub does not contain the entire story or may not even exist.
The determination of parties’ income for support calculations can be very complicated and thus an in-depth understanding of personal and business cash flow is necessary when crafting appropriate support awards. C.R.S. § 14-10-114(8) and C.R.S. § 14-10-115(5) both contain definitions of “income” for the purpose of our support calculations.
Resolving all of these issues is often difficult. Spousal maintenance is often the most contested issue in a dissolution case as it is often one of the most costly for one party and vital issues for the other party. Some cases may involve the need for vocational assessment to determine a spouse’s potential income. Other cases may need an expert to determine how the proposed spousal maintenance, assets and any other retirement will play out for both parties in the future. And, yet still others, may require forensic accounts and business evaluators to determine one spouse’s income or potential income.
Call our seasoned Colorado divorce attorneys today for a free telephone consultation on your high net worth divorce issues at 303-688-3045.
In developing my opinion of value, I have considered three standards to valuation, namely
the Income Approach, the Market Approach, and the Assets Based Approach. Each of the
three standards of value have multiple valuation methods or approaches. I have analyzed the
various methods and approaches and determined the most appropriate valuation methods for
the Company are as follows:
1. Income Approach – Capitalization of Historical Earnings.
2. Excess Earnings – Capitalized Excess Earnings of the Company in excess of a
return on net assets.
3. Market Approach – Multiple of Sales (revenues).
4. Multiple of EBITDA.
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Colorado Child Support Changed in 2026: What HB25-1159 Means for Your Case
By Marc Patoile, Managing Partner of the Family Law Practice Group, 303-688-3045
For years, Colorado parents built parenting schedules around a single number: 92 overnights or less for one parent, and those with 92 overnights or more for each parent.
That was the line where child support switched to a different formula. Ninety-two overnights could produce one support amount; ninety-three (and each day thereafter up to 182) produce other child support amounts. Parents fought over that one night the way people fight over tax brackets, because the fight was not really about parenting time. It was about money.
As of March 1, 2026, that line is largely gone. House Bill 25-1159 took effect that day and made the most significant changes to Colorado child support in more than a decade. If you have a case pending now, an existing support order (anyone paying or receiving child support for a child under 19 years of age), or a number in your head from an online calculator or a friend’s divorce, the rules you think you know may no longer apply.
If you are dealing with child support in Colorado in 2026 or later, here is what changed, who it affects, and whether it impacts an order you already have.
Colorado Child Support Law Changed in 2026
Colorado HB25-1159 took effect on March 1, 2026, and amended C.R.S. § 14-10-115, Colorado’s child support guideline statute. Click here to view the entire bill.
The new law changed several parts of the child support calculation at once. It:
- updated the child support schedule
- increased the income range covered by the guidelines
- revised the low-income provisions
- changed how extraordinary medical expenses are allocated
- replaced the old 93-overnight shared-parenting threshold with a formula that gives credit for every overnight
These changes apply to child support orders entered or modified on or after March 1, 2026.
What Changed Under HB25-1159?
The 2026 law rewrote several core parts of the child support formula. Here is the old rule next to the new one.
| Before March 1, 2026 | Starting March 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| A 93-overnight threshold determined whether a parent received shared-parenting credit at all | Parenting-time credit begins with the first overnight and scales with actual parenting time |
| A 1.5x multiplier applied in shared-parenting cases | The multiplier is gone and replaced by a formula tied to the actual number of overnights |
| The guideline schedule topped out at $30,000 in combined monthly income | The guideline schedule now runs to $40,000 in combined monthly income |
| The first $250 per child per year in medical costs sat outside the allocation | Extraordinary medical expenses are shared from the first dollar, and the definition is broader |
| Courts used two separate worksheets depending on overnights | The law now uses one unified worksheet |
| Schedule amounts were based on older cost data | Schedule amounts were updated to reflect current costs, and many support amounts increased |
Taken together, these changes affect who pays support, how much support is paid, and how sensitive the support number is to the actual parenting schedule.
The guideline amount is still presumed to be correct. A court may depart from that amount only if applying the guideline would be unjust or inappropriate under the facts of the case, and the court makes the findings required by statute.
The Biggest Change: Colorado Ended the 93-Overnight Child Support Cliff
For many families, the biggest change in the 2026 law is the end of the 93-overnight cliff.
Under the old law, the child support calculation changed once a parent crossed 93 overnights per year. Below that line, one worksheet applied. At or above it, a different worksheet applied—often producing a dramatically different support amount.
That single overnight became a financial cliff. It distorted negotiations because parents were not just discussing parenting time. They were negotiating a child support number.
The 2026 law removes that cliff.
Now, parenting-time credit can begin with the first overnight and increase as overnights increase. Support no longer flips from one formula to another based on a single threshold. Instead, the credit scales with the actual parenting schedule under the statutory formula and table.
That does not mean each extra overnight creates a flat dollar-for-dollar reduction. It does mean Colorado law no longer gives parents a reason to fight over one additional overnight just to trigger an entirely different worksheet.
Who the 2026 Colorado Child Support Changes Affect Most
The 2026 changes matter in almost every support case, but three groups are likely to feel them most.
Parents with shared or near-shared parenting time
If you have a schedule with regular overnights, the support number may look very different under the new law.
With the 93-overnight threshold gone, support can move more gradually as parenting time changes. Parents who previously fell just below the old shared-parenting line may now receive credit that did not exist before. Parents who were already above the threshold may see a different result because the old multiplier is gone and the formula now tracks actual overnights more closely.
Higher-income families
Before March 1, 2026, the guideline schedule stopped at $30,000 in combined monthly adjusted gross income. That left many higher-income families in a gray area where courts had to extrapolate above the schedule or exercise broader discretion.
The new law extends the schedule to $40,000 in combined monthly income. That means more families now fall within the guideline framework and can get a more predictable support number.
Lower-income paying parents
The revised low-income provisions and the statutory self-support reserve are designed to preserve a basic amount for the paying parent’s own living expenses before support is set.
The goal is to keep child support tied to what a parent can realistically pay while still preserving the duty to support the children.
Does the 2026 Child Support Law Automatically Change My Existing Order?
No.
This is one of the most common questions we hear: If the law changed, does my support order change automatically too?
It does not.
An existing child support order remains in effect until a court enters a new one. The 2026 law applies to orders entered or modified on or after March 1, 2026. It does not go back and automatically recalculate older orders.
In other words, no money changes hands just because the statute changed.
Can I Modify My Colorado Child Support Order Because of the New Law?
Maybe—but not automatically.
The fact that the law changed is not, by itself, enough to justify a modification. But if applying the new guidelines to your case produces a support amount that differs from your current order by at least 10%, that difference may support a motion to modify under C.R.S. § 14-10-122.
Whether filing makes sense depends on the size of the change and the facts of your case.
Timing matters. The new law lowers support exposure for some parents and raises it for others. Before filing anything, you need to run the numbers under the current statute and make sure you know which direction the calculation actually moves.
If your issue is not recalculating support but enforcing an order that is already being ignored, see our page on [child support enforcement in Colorado].
Do Not Rely on Old Child Support Calculators
One of the biggest mistakes parents can make in 2026 is relying on child support tools or advice built around a law that no longer exists.
If an online calculator is still using:
- the old Worksheet A / Worksheet B structure
- the 93-overnight threshold
- the old 1.5 multiplier
- or the old $30,000 income cap
it can give you an official-looking number that is simply wrong under current Colorado law.
The same is true of informal advice from friends, family, or old court paperwork. A support order entered a few years ago may have been calculated under a framework that no longer applies.
If you are evaluating child support now, make sure the numbers are being run under the current version of C.R.S. § 14-10-115.
Call Marc Patoile, Managing Attorney Family Law, at 303-688-3045 for a free case evaluation with your Colorado child support matter.
