Colorado’s 2026 Child Support Updates – What Parents Need to Know

If you are a parent who pays or receives child support in Colorado, 2026 brought changes that could directly affect your finances and your family. Colorado overhauled its child support laws in a major way, with the new rules taking effect on March 1, 2026. Whether you are dealing with a current support order or expect to be involved in a new one, here is what you need to know, in layman’s terms.

The Old System – An Unfair Cutoff

Under the old rules, the number of nights per year you spent with your child only mattered if you crossed a specific threshold. If you had 92 overnights or fewer, you received zero credit for that parenting time when calculating how much support you owed. But if you had just one more, 93 overnights, you suddenly qualified for a completely different calculation that could dramatically reduce your obligation. This all-or-nothing cutoff struck many parents as deeply unfair, and Colorado has now eliminated it entirely.

The New System – Every Night Counts

Starting March 1, 2026, every single overnight you spend with your child counts toward reducing your child support obligation. The more time you spend with your child, the more credit you receive, with no arbitrary cutoff. Colorado has replaced the old two-worksheet system with a single, unified formula that scales fairly based on actual parenting time. This is a significant change for parents who have been actively involved in their children’s lives but were not getting credit for it under the old rules.

The $250 Medical Expense Rule Is Gone

Under the old law, uninsured medical expenses had to exceed $250 before either parent could seek reimbursement from the other. That threshold dated back to the 1980s, when health insurance deductibles were actually that low. Colorado has now eliminated that outdated rule, meaning parents can seek reimbursement for extraordinary uninsured medical costs without first having to hit an arbitrary dollar amount.

Higher-Income Families – You Are Now Covered by the Guidelines

Previously, Colorado’s child support formula only applied to families where both parents’ combined monthly gross income was $30,000 or less. If your combined income exceeded that amount, the court had more discretion to calculate support, which could lead to less predictable results. Under the new law, the formula now applies to combined monthly incomes up to $40,000, giving higher-earning families more consistency and certainty in their support calculations.

Protection for Lower-Income Parents

Colorado has also updated its rules to better protect parents with lower incomes. The law now ensures that a parent ordered to pay child support is still left with enough income to cover basic living expenses. For 2026, this protection is set at $1,831.83 ($15.16 hourly wage x 29 hours per week x 50 weeks per year div. By 12 months = $1831.83) per month, based on Colorado’s current minimum wage. This means the court cannot order a parent to pay so much in child support that they are left unable to meet their own basic needs.

This protects low-income earners as follows: If your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is between $650 and $1831.83, the child support obligation is reduced to a flat, low amount ($50 to $150 depending upon the number of children). If your AGI is above $1831.83, the court will deduct this reserve amount from your income before running the full child support calculation, ensuring you retain the first $1,831.83 to cover your own basic living expenses. 

Does This Affect Your Current Child Support Order?

If you already have a child support order, it does not change automatically. The new guidelines apply only to new orders or to modifications made on or after March 1, 2026. To change an existing order, you must file a motion to modify and show that the recalculated amount differs from your current order by at least 10%. Importantly, if you wait to file, any adjustment will only go back to the date you file, not earlier. So if you think the new rules might benefit you, it is worth looking into sooner rather than later.

What Should You Do Next?

These changes are significant and affect families across all income levels. Whether you are a parent who pays support or one who receives it, the 2026 reforms could mean a meaningful difference in your monthly finances. If you have questions about how the new rules apply to your situation, or whether it makes sense to seek a modification, speaking with Bronwyn Scurlock at Scurlock Family Law for a consult to discuss your specific situation is the best first step. Every family’s situation is different, and understanding how the new formula applies to your specific income and parenting schedule is the key to making informed decisions.