Custody and child support in Colorado: how it actually works Custody and child support in Colorado: how it actually works

Under C.R.S. § 14-10-124, everything runs on the child's best interests, with separate factor lists for parenting time (the child's relationships, adjustment to home and school, the parties' ability to put the child's needs first, past patterns of involvement, geography) and for decision-making (the parties' ability to cooperate and make decisions jointly, past patterns of mutual decision-making, whether joint decision-making would promote more frequent contact). Colorado maintains a policy favoring frequent and continuing contact with both parents, but has no statutory presumption of equal parenting time — equal schedules are common in Colorado practice, but they're built from evidence and agreement, not presumed. Domestic violence findings carry specific statutory consequences for decision-making allocation.

Colorado also utilizes distinctive neutral professionals — Child and Family Investigators (CFIs) and Parental Responsibilities Evaluators (PREs) — whose reports carry substantial weight in contested cases. Who gets appointed, and with what scope, is real strategy: high-conflict custody in Colorado.

Colorado runs income-shares guidelines under C.R.S. § 14-10-115 — and House Bill 25-1159, effective in early 2026, which delivered the biggest renovation in decades: a single worksheet replacing the old two-worksheet system, a graduated parenting-time credit replacing the notorious 93-overnight cliff (every overnight now moves the number — no more cliff-edge litigation over the 93rd night), an updated support schedule with the income table extended to $40,000 of combined monthly income, a self-support reserve protecting low-income parents, and mandatory support orders in every case involving children. If your order predates 2026, the math underneath it has changed — capturing it requires a modification filing. Full mechanics: child support in Colorado.

Colorado modification law is layered: parenting time adjustments run on best interests, changes to the primary residence or decision-making face stricter standards, and relocation gets its own framework — Colorado's relocation case law is among the most developed anywhere. The maps: modifications in Colorado and relocation in Colorado.

From our Denver office, Brown Carrington handles Colorado parenting cases at every level of conflict — including the ones that turn on an evaluation, an expert, or a courtroom.