Graham.Law Blog

Your Family Support Obligation & Covid-19 Even before Gov. Polis issued a statewide stay-at-home order, many families were already struggling with how to handle child custody orders and Covid-19. The updated stay-at-home order makes it clear that parenting exchanges are not suspended, and that parents should be compliant with any court…

Deviation From Child Support Guidelines Cannot Be Permanent With limited exceptions, courts are required to apply Colorado’s Child Support Guidelines when determining an appropriate amount of child support. And that means when parents sign a child support agreement, they too must generally adhere to the guidelines. And while parents may agree to…

Change of Custody & Retroactive Child Support Normally, the law does not allow retroactive child support – a support modification is only prospective – i.e. it applies to payments due after the motion was modified, rather than to past support. (1)(a) provides: “except as otherwise provided in subsection (5) of…

The Colorado Court of Appeals just held that deferred compensation payments from an employer to a non-qualified plan (i.e. it’s not a retirement account under ERISA) do not count as income for purposes of child support. N.J.C. In the N.J.C. case, the father was a cardiologist, who earned a salary of $150,000/yr, plus…

Rent is income – that’s pretty clear. The IRS requires you to declare rental income received on a Schedule E, and the Colorado child support statute’s definition of income includes “rents”. (5)(a)(I)(J). The maintenance statute has a similar provision. (8)(a)(I)(J). And Colorado courts will impute income to people who are voluntarily under-employed and…

In a Colorado divorce or parenting case, the parents owe their children a duty of support. While monthly child support payments are the most visible example of this, the Colorado child support statute includes a variety of other child expenses which the parents share. Included among these shared expenses are…

In what has become an annual tradition, Colorado’s 4th Judicial District (El Paso & Teller Counties) helps the community with a fantastic information event every May, in honor of Law Day. For the third consecutive year, dozens of attorneys & other professionals in the community volunteer their time to answer…

Does the GI Bill BAH count as income for the purposes of determining maintenance and child support in a Colorado family law case? The answer is yes – but only the GI Bill BAH, not the tuition assistance or the book/supply stipend. This is a rare “case of first impression”…

Each spring, family law attorneys in Colorado hold our collective breaths waiting to see what bills emerge from the Colorado assembly that affect divorce and family law. This year, our patience was rewarded with House Bill 19-1215, signed by Governor Polis on May 23, 2019. The act makes several changes to…

When Does Child Support End in Colorado? Does child support stop at 18? No. One of the biggest myths in (Colorado) family law is that child support ends when a child turns 18. After all, at 18 one is legally an adult –  Junior is old enough to vote, work, join…