Graham.Law Blog

I have lost track of how many times the Colorado Assembly has modified the child support statute in the past couple of decades – it seems like about every other year or so. The good thing is that the changes are invariably improvements, as they clarify ambiguities which have been…

The Colorado Court of Appeals recently issued a decision of first impression in Colorado – whether straight-line depreciation could be deducted from a party’s rental income for purposes of child support or spousal maintenance. After all, a property owner does not actually write a check for depreciation from the rental…

This post was inspired by a reader who sent me an email questioning how Colorado can treat VA disability payments as income when federal law prohibits states from dividing VA benefits, and does not explicitly authorize states to count them as income. Every so often my firm receives profanity-laden emails…

The Colorado Court of Appeals just considered an issue of first impression, whether unrealized gains or dividends income in an investment account count as income for purposes of calculating child support and maintenance. And the answer to that was “no”, as mere “paper gains” are not included in a party’s…

Every so often a court decision can still somewhat surprise me, and a recent unpublished decision from the Colorado Court of Appeals did just that by holding that a spouse who worked a 30 hour/week part-time job was not voluntarily underemployed for purposes of calculating child support or maintenance. In…

A former stepparent with minimal parenting time does not owe a duty of child support, per the Colorado Court of Appeals. Back in 2019, the court of appeals issued a ground-breaking decision, A.C.H., which held that a psychological parent who sought court-ordered parenting time also had a duty to pay…

Normally when child support is modified in Colorado, retroactive child support may be awarded back to the date one of the parents filed a motion to modify child support in Colorado. (1). However, the modification statute provides for up to 5 years of retroactive child support back to the date…

The federal government has required all states to enact the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, or UIFSA, which is a law designed to sort out what was previously a jurisdictional mess between the states over who could impose, modify, or enforce child support or alimony obligations. Personal Jurisdiction – Basis…

“Child support payments for disabled child” is not a headline we see much, as fortunately it is not an issue most parents need to contend with. Normally in Colorado, support ends at the later of (1) the child’s 19th birthday, or (2) the end of the month following the child’s…

We wrote last year on a Colorado Court of Appeals Thomas decision which held that courts should make a major decision, including school choice, when parents with joint decision-making are unable to agree. A recent unpublished decision from the appellate court holds that the choice can even include private school,…