Child Support

The Importance of Shared Financial Responsibility

Calculate accurate child support in mediation using the same professional software the Colorado courts and attorneys use. The well-being and development of children are profoundly influenced by the level of involvement and support they receive from their parents. One crucial aspect of this support is financial responsibility.  Children have a significantly greater chance of thriving when both parents actively participate in the costs of their care. This shared financial responsibility ensures that children have access to the resources they need for their physical, emotional, and educational development.

Proportionate Share of Expenses

Each parent is expected to pay a proportionate share of both ordinary and extraordinary child expenses according to their resources. This approach not only promotes fairness but also ensures that the child's needs are met without placing an undue burden on one parent. Ordinary expenses include daily necessities such as housing, food, clothing, and transportation, while extraordinary expenses encompass things such as medical bills, extracurricular activities, and educational costs.

 

Imputing income encourages parents to seek gainful employment and fulfill their financial responsibilities. It also prevents situations where one parent may attempt to avoid their obligations by remaining unemployed or underemployed deliberately. By holding both parents accountable for their financial contributions, the child's best interests are prioritized.

 

When both parents contribute their fair share, children are more likely to enjoy a stable and nurturing environment. This financial stability allows children to focus on their growth and development, free from the stresses and insecurities that can arise from financial instability.

Parenting Goals and the Restructured Family

While shared financial responsibility is ideal, it is not without its challenges. Parents often have a clear idea about how they wish to raise their children. It is easier to be aligned on goals when parents operate as a unit. However, when families restructure during a divorce, conversations often become strained. Trust is reduced, and resources are stretched. The same income now supports two households rather than one, doubling the cost of living overnight. Additionally, the time spent with each parent can influence the financial obligations determined by the child support worksheet formulas. And so decisions become more difficult when considering so many competing interests – children’s time shared with each parent, what to cut from the budget and what is important enough to keep affording. All of these weighty matters cause anxiety. 

 

It is possible to prioritize competing parental goals through honest conversation. A professional mediator such as Judy West assists parents in determining what is most important. What is non-negotiable and what must be sacrificed? Judy is a seasoned mediator who encourages a full and robust conversation about the dynamics that impact children’s growth and stability, given the parent’s stated objectives for their children. Through creative negotiation, competing priorities can often be brought into alignment. These conversations are not easy. Sometimes goals must shift. But for many families, preserving the essential priorities is possible. It starts with creative and courageous conversation. 

 

Mediation Holds Space for Difficult Conversations

 

During mediation, parents can stipulate agreement to allow a parent to work part time or be unemployed for a specified time, for example. It may be possible to allow one parent to attend school in order to improve their economic potential in the future. Some families place great importance on one parents providing full time care for young or disabled children in the home. Home schooling is another common goal that might require unemployment or part-time work, with the trade off of having less income between the households. Mediation holds space for these types of conversations and agreements that are not undertaken in court. This is the reason courts order mediation, to allow parents to discuss their own private family matters to see if agreement is possible prior to final hearing. 

 

The Colorado Child Support Guidelines max out at a monthly combined parental income of $30,000. Child support payments are neither deductible by the payer nor taxable to the recipient.   

 

The child support guidelines consider all relevant factors, including:

• Physical care arrangements (shared parenting or majority of parenting time)

• The financial resources of the child, the custodial parent, the noncustodial parent

• The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved

• The physical and emotional condition of the child’s educational needs 

 

Additionally, clear communication and mediated agreements adopted by the court can help ensure that both parents understand their financial responsibilities and are held accountable for their contributions.
 

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Child support in Colorado is determined by Colorado Revised Statutes Title 14. Domestic Matters § 14-10-115. Child support guidelines--purpose--determination of income--schedule of basic child support obligations--adjustments to basic child support--additional guidelines--child support commission--definitions