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When a divorce or separation involves minor children, a key part of this process is determining the level of financial support that gives the children a suitable lifestyle based on each parent’s financial resources. States typically provide guidance on this issue, but it can be more challenging to make this determination when the combined income of the parties is significant. Find out how the courts deal with child support orders in high income cases, and explore the legal options available to parents considering divorce by speaking to a seasoned Colorado family law attorney from the Colorado Divorce Law Group; contact our legal team to arrange a consultation by calling (720) 593-6442.

What Are Child Support Orders?

In the United States, child support payments are not available at the state and federal level, but support is available to help parents secure these payments from other means. According to the United States Government, a child support order refers to a court order that imposes a legal obligation on a parent to pay toward raising a child.

Every state has an agency that can help parents obtain, enforce, or change one of these orders, irrespective of where a parent may live. For instance, in Colorado, the Colorado Child Support Services Program can assist in this area. Per the Office of Child Support Services, the process of collecting child support involves the following steps:

• Identifying and locating the parent: Start by determining who the child’s parent is; in contested cases, a state’s child support agency can arrange accurate blood tests, and other forms of genetic testing, to aid this process. Child support offices can also assist with locating a parent by collaborating with other state agencies.
• Establishing the order: To establish a child support order, it is necessary to identify the level of financial support required to raise the child. States offer official guidelines covering the standard calculation of child support in that location, although the courts can choose a different calculation method depending on the specifics of the case.
• Enforcing the order: Child support agencies typically enforce these orders by withholding money from the parent’s paycheck. Other methods of enforcement include passport denial, federal payment interception, driver, recreational, professional, or occupational license suspension or cancelation, credit rating impact, property liens, and tax refund withholding.

What Are the Child Support Guidelines in Colorado?

In Colorado, the two main factors influencing the level of child support are the parties’ income and the number of children involved. This helps determine the proportion owed by each party; say, for example, if the mother’s salary is 10% more than the father’s, then the mother’s obligation would be 10% more than the father’s. After calculating this starting point, it is necessary to factor in relevant adjustments, tax breaks, and credits to determine the level of child support owed by each party.

The courts typically follow the state guidelines concerning child support but can deviate if applying the guidelines would lead to an inappropriate or unfair outcome for one or both parties. Some examples of when this could take place include a significant income disparity between the parties, whether one parent owns assets that produce an income, whether one party has incurred substantial costs as a result of performing parental responsibilities, and whether a party’s parenting time is substantially higher than the other parent.

How Much Should a Parent Pay for Child Support?

For low-income parents with a combined monthly salary of $651-$1500, the minimum child support obligation is a monthly payment of $50 for one child, $70 for two children, $90 for three children, $110 for four children, $130 for five children, and $150 for six children; if parents earn less than this, perhaps due to being in full-time education or because of medical reasons, then the minimum obligation is $10 per month, irrespective of the number of children. At the other end of the scale, the guidelines state that the minimum obligation for parents with a combined monthly income of $30,000 is a monthly payment of $2535 for one child, $3819 for two children, $4557 for three children, $5091 for four children, $5600 for five children, and $6087 for six children. Beyond these levels of income, the judge can either choose to treat these earnings as $30,000 or apply their discretion to award greater amounts of child support than listed in the guidelines.

Explore child support orders involving high income levels in greater detail, and learn how an experienced Colorado divorce attorney can aid individuals seeking a divorce. Contact the Colorado Divorce Law Group today to discuss the details of your case.

Understanding Child Support Adjustments

Following the calculation of a parent’s minimum child support obligation, adjustments might be necessary to achieve the final value. Below are examples of the main child support adjustments.

Child Care

Child support adjustments include additional, reasonable net costs for caring for a child incurred due to a parent working, job searching, or pursuing education. These expenses are added to the minimum obligation and split between each parent proportionally according to their earnings. For instance, these costs could include paying a friend, family member, or licensed provider for child care services on a part-time, full-time, or temporary basis (such as during vacations).

Health Insurance

Another adjustment is the cost associated with securing the child’s dental and medical coverage. Many employer-provided plans increase in cost when covering dependents, and this difference between insurance for one and insurance including a child is the adjustment. If the plan covers several children, it is necessary to divide the costs proportionally by the number of children included in the plan; if the policy does not include a breakdown of the costs for insuring each child, dividing the policy’s complete monthly cost by the number of covered individuals equates to the adjustment.

Extraordinary Expenses

Extraordinary expenses include significant medical costs not covered by health insurance; these costs are proportionally split between the parents according to their income levels. Common examples of these expenses are orthodontic care or special medical needs necessitating frequent therapy sessions, prescription drugs, or medical procedures. Sometimes, other frequently occurring significant expenses unrelated to medical care can also fall in this category, such as the cost of insuring a motor vehicle for a minor, league sports costs, and private education costs.

How Do the Courts Handle Child Support in High Income Cases?

The courts may or may not handle child support in high income cases differently from state guidelines, depending on the specifics of the case. Here are some of the factors the courts might consider when approaching these child support orders:

• Child support should provide the children with appropriate amenities and housing, but this may not necessarily mean that one standard of living enjoyed by the children in one parent’s household should be the same as the standard of living experienced in the other parent’s home.
• The courts often seek a balance between a child’s reasonable needs, reflecting their lifestyle, while also not awarding the child with an inappropriately large sum of money or infringing a parent’s right to determine a suitable lifestyle for their child.
• If a parent experiences a significant increase in income, perhaps due to receiving a substantial bonus, this might not mean the child support would increase proportionally, particularly if this increase extends far beyond what most parents may pay toward raising their child.
• The courts may decide not to strictly apply the guidelines if doing so would have an unreasonable and unfair outcome, such as the child support amounting to a far greater value than the cost of raising the child during the parents’ marriage or being likely to have a detrimental impact on the child’s values.

Contact a Colorado Family Law Attorney To Learn More

In divorce cases where one or both parties have high levels of income, the courts typically use their discretion to calculate appropriate levels of child support. They do this by taking into account the specific, relevant factors of the case, such as the children’s actual needs, the lifestyle led by the parties while married, and each party’s ability to pay. Learn more about child support orders involving substantial income levels, and discover how the Colorado Divorce Law Group may help parents going through divorce; contact one of our Colorado family law attorneys today by calling (720) 593-6442.