Colorado Child Support Calculator 2026

House Bill 25-1159 rewrote the guideline effective March 1, 2026. Shared physical care now starts at one overnight a year instead of more than 92. A table with a row for every overnight replaced the old Worksheet B and its 1.5 multiplier. The schedule was extended from $30,000 to $40,000 a month of combined income. A new self-support reserve of $1,831.83 a month protects low earners with a taper above it. And the two worksheets became one.

Both parents' monthly adjusted gross incomes are combined and looked up on the schedule for the number of children. Each parent is responsible for a share in proportion to income. Each parent then gets a credit equal to the total basic obligation times their percentage from the per-overnight table, subtracted from their own share. Add-ons like child care and health insurance are shared by income. The parent owing the greater amount pays the difference.

Not automatically. At 182.5 overnights each, both parents hold a 50 percent credit, so the credits cancel and the difference comes down to income. The higher earner still usually pays, because their income share of the obligation is larger than their credit relief. Equal time with unequal incomes produces a transfer in Colorado, on purpose.

Repealed for orders on or after March 1, 2026. The old law gave no parenting time credit at 92 or fewer overnights, then multiplied the obligation by 1.5 and cross-weighted it from 93 up. The new law reads a single table instead: 92 overnights earns 13.19 percent, 93 earns 13.45 percent, and the payment moves by a few dollars instead of jumping formulas. Orders from before March 2026 stay on the old math until modified.

A floor for the paying parent, tied to the state minimum wage: $15.16 an hour times 29 hours a week times 50 weeks a year, divided by 12 months, which is $1,831.83 a month for 2026. At or below $650 a month the order is a $10 minimum. Between $650 and the reserve, the obligation drops to $50 to $150 by number of children, capped with add-ons at 10 percent of income. Above the reserve, only 80 to 95 percent of the income beyond the reserve goes into the obligation until it reaches the schedule amount. The reserve updates itself as the minimum wage changes.

The schedule stops, but the law leaves a floor. The court may order more in its discretion based on the family's circumstances, but the presumptive obligation may not be less than the $40,000-row amount. This tool computes that floor and tells you the court holds the headroom.

Yes. The Colorado Judicial Branch self-help page links the official electronic worksheet, a browser tool provided through Family Law Software, and notes that the current statute has only one worksheet. The Child Support Services division at childsupport.colorado.gov links the same resources. Use this page to understand the math; use theirs to file.

Yes. When the children on the worksheet spend different numbers of overnights with a parent, the statute averages the overnights across those children and reads the table at the average. Two children at 100 and 146 overnights average to 123, which earns a 22.90 percent credit. This tool accepts the averaged figure directly.