What is the Average Child Support Payment?
If you are new to child support, you’re probably wondering: What is the average child support payment? That’s a fair question, as child support will affect your household budget whether you’re paying or receiving it. Keep reading to find out how to answer your question as it pertains to Colorado laws.
What is Child Support?
Child support is money a court orders one parent to pay the other for their child’s needs. Both parents must support their children financially, even after separation. Rules vary by state as to how long child support will last, but generally, the obligation will stop somewhere around age 18 or older.
In Colorado, child support usually ends when the child turns 19. This is called emancipation. At 19, the child is considered an adult who can support themselves. However, there are exceptions where child support may end earlier or continue longer.
What is the Average Child Support Payment?
Nationally, the average monthly child support payment is around $721. Your payment may be more or less than the average child support payment in the U.S. due to your income and other factors. Plus, every state has unique laws and economic conditions that influence child support average payments.
Average State Amounts Vary Widely
The amount differs from state to state. For example, in Northeastern states, like Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the monthly child support average is over $1,000. Meanwhile, a few hundred miles south in Virginia average child support payments are barely over $400 a month. The varying obligations are due to differences in a particular state’s domestic laws as well as things like costs of living factors, availability of income and even presumptions regarding parenting time schedules.
Parents in New Hampshire with similar finances to those in Virginia pay about $600 more per month in child support.
What is the Average Amount of Child Support in Colorado?
Colorado has the tenth-lowest average child support payment in the U.S., at $494, as of 2019. This is according to custodyxchange.com, an internet resource for parents with custody and child support concerns.
Rocky Mountain states, as a whole, pay less child support per month than any other region of the U.S. This includes:
- Wyoming ($484)
- Idaho ($463)
- Montana ($612)
- Arizona ($534)
Utah and New Mexico pay monthly amounts closer to the national average at $729 and $735, respectively.
How States Determine Child Support Amounts
Courts across the country aren’t preoccupied about what the average child support payment is. Instead, they are concerned about assessing the right payment amount for each family.
That can be a complicated process, no matter where you live. Each state has a set of guidelines designed to calculate what that state considers a fair payment for all parties. No system is perfect, and some will find it unfair.
The primary goal everywhere, though, is to meet the child’s needs and maintain their standard of living.
Meeting the Child’s Needs
Courts try to do this by looking at:
- The child’s basic necessities, such as food, clothing, education, and healthcare,
- Both parents’ incomes, and
- The paying parent’s ability to contribute.
Depending on where you live, other factors might include:
- Existing child support arrangements,
- The age(s) of the child or children before the court,
- Other children you’re supporting,
- Who pays for health insurance and daycare,
- Income sources of the minor child, and
- How much time you spend with the child.
If you’re facing especially unique circumstances, don’t worry. You can explain your situation to the court, and they might adjust the support amount if deemed needed. Remember, in Colorado the guideline support calculation is presumptive – that means the Court starts with the assumption that you will be able to meet that obligation based on the calculated amounts. It is difficult, though not impossible, to achieve a deviation from that guideline amount.
Allocating Each Parent’s Financial Responsibility
After calculating children’s needs, courts use one of three models to set the exact monthly child support amount: the Income Shares Model, The Melson Formula, and the Percentage of Income Model.
The Income Shares Model
This model aims to maintain the child’s pre-divorce living standard by having a child support payment based on a percentage of the parents’ combined monthly income. Colorado is one of 40 states that use the Income Shares model when your custody order allocates at least 93 overnights per year to the other party, this is calculated as what is referred to as a Worksheet B calculation for shared custody. Colorado calculations also account for:
- how many children a couple has
- how many overnights each parent has with the child(ren)
- financial obligation for other children
- spousal maintenance payments
- health insurance costs
- child care costs
The Melson Formula
This is an even more intricate version of the “Income Shares” model. It ensures that the support-paying parent’s basic needs are met along with the child’s. Montana, Hawaii, and Delaware use this model.
Percentage of Income Model
This formula uses only the non-custodial parent’s income to determine the amount of child support. Six states, including Texas and Colorado, use one of the two variations of this model. The flat version applies the same percentage to a parent’s income no matter what income bracket they’re in. The variable version adjusts payments based on the parent’s income bracket.
For example: If a non-custodial parent earns $5,000 monthly, and the state requires 20 percent for one child, the parent pays $1,000/month. In a flat model state, this 20 percent applies to any income. In a varying model state, payments adjust if the parent’s income can’t meet the 20 percent rate.
Colorado has a very similar method for calculating child support when there is a ‘primary parent.’ This has been defined as the non-custodial parent having 92 overnight visits, or less, with the child. The obligation is calculated under what is referred to as a Worksheet A calculation and only takes into account the paying parent’s income and allocated deductions (see above for some of the issues that are still going to be accounted for under a worksheet A calculation).
Higher Averages
What is the national average child support payment per month in percentage-of-income states? It’s a full $100 higher, at $813 per month compared to $713 in the other 44 states.
Child Support Attorneys Make the Process Easier
If you’re contemplating child support, you probably have more questions about your specific situation. What is the average amount of child support, and how much might you pay or receive? An experienced, no-nonsense family law attorney can help you achieve an appropriate child support payment. Call 303-688-0944 to begin your case assessment.
