The New Year is a good time to look back over the past year and to make plans for the upcoming months.
One of the ways that we do that is to do our income taxes. We look at what we earned in 2017, as well as what we spent. The tax return has to account for all of our income from wages, overtime, businesses, as well as 1099 earnings from savings and investments.
You may be required to gather this information if you are paying child support. Most people have a clause in their Parenting Plan that requires them to exchange financial information in April or May so that they can determine whether child support needs to be adjusted.
Even if you don’t have that clause in your court order, in January of 2017, C.R.S. 14-10-115 (14) was changed so that the relevant information shall be exchanged once a year or less. The exchange of information is now required.
Child support is based on the income of both parents as well as expenses such as the cost of health care for the children and the cost of work-related child care. Child support can be changed as long as the change in the support is 10% more or less than the current order.
How do you accomplish the change in child support, especially if the other parent is not willing to provide their financial information as required in the Parenting Plan? You may need to file a Motion to Modify Child with the court that entered the support order.
The Colorado Judicial website, www.courts.state.co.us provides a child support calculator and the forms necessary to file a Stipulation Concerning Child Support and a new Support Order if there is an agreement. The forms for filing a Motion are also there when no agreement can be reached.
If you have questions about how to use the forms, how to calculate the support or need representation, or other family law-related issues, our team of Colorado family law lawyers at The Harris Law Firm are ready and waiting to assist you. Call us at (303) 622-5502 to discuss your situation over the phone today, or request a legal evaluation through our online form.
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