Colorado Family Law Tools
Colorado Child Support Calculator
Estimate child support using Colorado guidelines effective March 1, 2026 in just a few minutes. Then learn what can affect your payment and what your estimate could mean for your family.
Before you use this calculator
A Quick Note From Our Attorneys
"One of the first questions parents ask is, "How much child support might I pay—or receive?" This calculator is designed to give you a reliable starting point based on Colorado's child support guidelines.
Keep in mind that every family is different. Parenting time, healthcare costs, childcare expenses, and other factors can all affect the final amount. If your situation is more complex, we're here to help you understand how Colorado law applies to your case."
This calculator provides an estimate based on Colorado’s child support guidelines effective March 1, 2026. It isn’t legal advice or a guarantee of what a court will order and is for informational purposes only. Every family’s circumstances are different, and factors such as parenting time, healthcare costs, childcare expense, variable income, or existing court orders may affect the final amount. Using this calculator does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you have any question about your specific situation, speak with a Colorado family law attorney.
Your Estimate May Be Different
You now have a starting point—but it's only part of the picture. Colorado's child support guidelines are designed to create consistency, but real life isn't always that simple. Even small changes to your income, parenting schedule, or expenses can affect the final amount.
- Overtime, Bonuses, and Variable Income: Income isn't always a regular paycheck. Overtime, bonuses, commissions, and seasonal income may all affect child support, depending on your circumstances.
- Self-Employment Income: If you're self-employed, calculating income can be more complicated. Business expenses, fluctuating earnings, and other financial factors can affect the amount used to calculate child support.
- Childcare Costs: Work-related childcare expenses are included in Colorado's child support calculation. These costs are generally shared between parents based on their incomes.
- Health Insurance: If one parent pays for the child's health insurance, that cost may affect each parent's share of child support.
- Parenting Time: Parenting time affects child support under Colorado law. Starting March 1, 2026, Colorado counts every night a parent spends with their child when calculating parenting time. In the past, those overnights only counted after a parent reached a certain minimum number of nights. Because of this change, even relatively small differences in parenting schedules may affect the calculation.
- When a Judge May Order a Different Amount: Colorado courts generally begin with the statutory guideline calculation but may deviate when applying the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate based on the evidence in a particular case.
What Does This Mean for Your Case?
This calculator gives you a reliable estimate based on Colorado's child support guidelines. If you're making important financial decisions, understanding the factors that may change your payment is just as important as knowing your estimated amount.This estimate uses Colorado's guideline formula — but real cases involve factors a calculator can't capture, from variable income to existing court orders. An attorney can give you a number you can actually rely on.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Attorney-reviewed answers to what we hear most often about Child Support in Colorado.
Colorado uses a formula that looks at each parent's income, the number of overnights each parent has with the child, healthcare costs, childcare expenses, and other required financial information. This calculator uses those same guidelines to provide an estimate. If you'd like to see the official worksheet Colorado courts use, you can find it on the Colorado Judicial Branch website.
Yes. Courts usually begin with the guideline amount, but judges can order more or less child support when the facts of the case make a different amount more appropriate.
Child support is generally based on each parent's gross income, including wages, self-employment income, bonuses, commissions, rental income, and some other sources of income. Determining income can be more complicated for parents who are self-employed or have variable earnings.
Yes. Parenting time is one of the most important factors in Colorado's child support calculation. Under current Colorado law (effective March 1, 2026), every overnight is considered when calculating child support. The previous 93-overnight threshold has been eliminated, so each additional overnight can gradually affect the amount of support owed.
Yes. Child support can often be modified if there's a substantial change in circumstances, such as a significant change in income, parenting time, or the child's needs. For information about state child support services, enforcement, and payment processing, visit Colorado Child Support Services.
This calculator uses Colorado's current child support guidelines to provide an estimate. While it's a reliable starting point, it can't account for every detail that may affect your case, so the final amount ordered by a court may be different.
The March 1, 2026 changes to Colorado’s child support law include:
- Parenting time calculation updated
- Every overnight counts
- Income table expanded
- Updated low-income adjustments
These changes apply to new and modified orders after March 1, 2026.
No. A child support order doesn't automatically change when the law changes. If you want to update an existing order, you'll generally need to ask the court for a modification and meet Colorado's legal requirements.
Go deeper
Related Resources
Attorney-written guides to help you understand what comes next.
Need a More Personalized Estimate?
An online calculator can’t account for every detail that affects child support. Share a few details, and a Colorado family law attorney will help you understand what your estimate could mean for your situation.
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Tools & Resources
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