Colorado’s New Child Support Law in 2026: What Changed and What It Means for You

The way Colorado courts calculate child support changed on March 1, 2026. If you pay or receive support, the way your number gets calculated is different now, and this may change your regular monthly child support number. The new Colorado child support law comes from House Bill 25-1159, which rewrote the core of the state’s guidelines under C.R.S. 14-10-115.

Most of it comes down to two things: how your parenting time is counted, and new protections for lower earners. It is important to know that your current order does not change on its own, so it helps to know where you stand first.

At Kinnett & Cordes, we handle Denver family law and nothing else, and we run these numbers for parents every week.

Key Takeaways

• House Bill 25-1159 took effect March 1, 2026, and updates Colorado’s child support guidelines under C.R.S. 14-10-115.
• Every overnight is considered now when calculating child support.
• A new self-support reserve shields a base amount of a lower earner’s income before support is calculated.
• The guideline schedule now runs to $40,000 in combined monthly income, up from $30,000.
• Existing orders do not change automatically. Parties must mutually agree to a change or a parent has to file to modify child support.

The sections below explain how each piece works and whether filing is worth it. If you want your current child support order reviewed using the new calculations, our Colorado child support attorneys can do that.

What changed in Colorado child support on March 1, 2026?

Colorado overhauled how child support is calculated. The changes come from House Bill 25-1159, signed by Governor Jared Polis in May 2025, with the calculation rules taking effect March 1, 2026.

Three shifts matter most. The state now credits parenting time from the first overnight instead of ignoring it below a cutoff. It added a self-support reserve to protect low earners. And it raised the income ceiling for the standard formula. Courts also must now enter a support order in cases involving children, where the old statute only said they could.

How does the new parenting time credit work?

This is the biggest change. Under the old rules, parenting time did nothing for your payment until you reached 93 overnights a year. A parent with 20 overnights and one with 90 paid the same. Lawyers called it the 93-overnight cliff, and families fought over a night or two because the money swung so sharply at that line.

Every overnight now counts

The new law erases that cliff. Colorado now recognizes shared parenting from a single overnight, and the credit rises gradually as your overnights climb. The statute uses a parenting time table that assigns a credit percentage to each overnight count, from 0 percent at zero nights, to 50 percent at 182.5 nights, to 100 percent at 365. The old shortcut that multiplied the basic obligation by 1.5 for shared care is gone.

What this means for your number

Because credit now scales smoothly, small differences in a schedule no longer cause large swings in support. A parent with 60 or 70 overnights, who used to get nothing, now gets a real reduction. A receiving parent who counted on the old cutoff may see less. Run your actual overnights before you assume which way it goes.

What is the self-support reserve, and who does it help?

The self-support reserve is a floor of income a lower-earning parent keeps before support is figured. It is set by formula: the state minimum wage, times 29 hours a week, times 50 weeks, divided by 12 months. With Colorado’s 2026 minimum wage at $15.16 an hour, the reserve works out to about $1,831.83 a month, and it moves each year as the minimum wage moves.

Below the reserve, support follows reduced amounts instead of the full schedule:

• Monthly adjusted gross income at or below $650: a flat $10 a month, no matter how many children.
• Income above $650 but at or below the reserve: a set low-income amount, from $50 a month for one child up to $150 for six or more.
• In that low-income range, the obligation is capped at 10 percent of the paying parent’s income, down from 20 percent under the old rule.

The goal is to keep a struggling parent housed and fed while still supporting the child.

Did the income limits for the formula change?

Yes. The guideline schedule used to stop at $30,000 in combined monthly adjusted gross income. It now runs to $40,000. Above the top of the schedule, a judge still uses discretion, but the presumptive amount cannot fall below the highest figure on the schedule.

For higher-earning Denver families, more of the calculation is now driven by the table rather than by a judge’s discretion, which tends to make the result easier to predict.

Does the new law change my existing child support order?

Not on its own. An order entered before March 1, 2026 stays in force until a court changes it. To get the new math applied, a parent has to file a motion to modify.

Colorado does not let you modify support just because you want to. Under C.R.S. 14-10-122, you need a substantial and continuing change in circumstances. The statute treats a recalculation that moves support by 10 percent or more as substantial, and a smaller change is presumed not to be, though that presumption can be rebutted. So the new formula only helps if it moves your number far enough.

If you think it might, start by tracking your overnights for the year and gathering current income for both parents. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes the motion to modify (Form JDF 1403), and a $105 filing fee applies in most cases. Before you file, it is worth having a Colorado child support attorney run the numbers both ways, since filing when the change is under 10 percent usually goes nowhere.

It also helps to understand how Colorado calculates child support and how your parenting time feeds the number before you spend money on a filing.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the new Colorado child support law take effect?

The calculation changes took effect March 1, 2026. They come from House Bill 25-1159, which amended C.R.S. 14-10-115. Orders entered or modified on or after that date use the new guidelines.

Will the new law raise or lower my payment?

It can go either way, depending on your overnights and both parents’ incomes. Parents who have real parenting time but sat below the old 93-overnight cutoff tend to benefit most. Run your case under the new table to know for sure.

What counts as an overnight?

An overnight is a night the child spends in your care, and the new law counts each one toward your credit. When you have different numbers of overnights with two or more children, the statute averages them across the children. Keep a simple, dated record, because these counts now drive the math.

Does child support still end at 19 in Colorado?

Yes. Support generally ends when the last or only child turns 19, with limited exceptions such as a child still finishing high school. The 2026 law did not change that basic age.

Kinnett & Cordes: Your Denver Family Law Firm

If you are trying to figure out whether the March 2026 changes affect you, you are asking the right question at the right time. The new formula rewards accurate overnight records and current income figures.

At Kinnett & Cordes, we have spent years running Colorado child support calculations, and we can show you your numbers under the old rule and the new one side by side, so the choice to file rests on accurate data instead of a hunch. Contact our firm today to talk through where your order stands.