Losing a job is stressful under any circumstances. When you have a court-ordered child support obligation, it adds a layer of urgency that most people are not prepared for. The question comes up constantly: can you stop paying, reduce your payments, or at least pause while you get back on your feet?
The short answer is no, not automatically. But Colorado law does provide a path to modify your obligation when your circumstances genuinely change. The key is understanding what that path looks like, how quickly you need to move, and what happens if you don’t.
Your Order Stays in Effect Until a Court Changes It
This is the point most people miss. A child support order does not pause because you lost your job. It does not adjust on its own because your income dropped. Until a Colorado court formally modifies the order, you are legally obligated to pay the full amount every month.
Under C.R.S. § 14-10-122, each missed child support payment becomes an automatic judgment the moment it is due and unpaid. Interest begins accruing immediately. Under C.R.S. § 14-14-106, the interest rate on child support arrears accrued since July 1, 2021 is 10% per annum, compounded annually. For arrears that predate July 1, 2021, the rate is 12% compounded monthly. That is not a small number. A few months of missed payments can grow into a debt that takes years to dig out of.
Beyond the financial consequences, a parent who falls behind on child support can face wage garnishment, bank account liens, interception of state and federal tax refunds, suspension of professional and driver’s licenses, damage to their credit, and contempt of court proceedings that can result in jail time. Colorado Child Support Services has broad enforcement authority, and it uses it.
The bottom line: do not stop paying and wait to see what happens. Act immediately.
What You Need to Show the Court
To modify a child support order in Colorado, you must demonstrate a substantial and continuing change in circumstances. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-122(1)(b), the practical threshold is a change that would result in at least a 10% difference in the support amount that would be calculated under current guidelines.
Both elements matter. The change must be substantial enough to move the number by at least 10%, and it must be continuing, not temporary. This second requirement is where many job loss cases run into difficulty.
A short-term layoff that results in new employment within a few months is unlikely to qualify as a continuing change. Courts are not going to reopen a support order every time a parent has a rough quarter. But a sustained period of unemployment, a job loss that puts you in a significantly lower-paying field, or a situation where comparable employment is genuinely difficult to find can all support a modification.
The circumstances of your job loss matter too. Being laid off due to a company restructuring is treated very differently from voluntarily quitting, being terminated for cause, or making a deliberate career change that reduces your income.
The Voluntary Unemployment Problem
If a court finds that you are voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, it can impute, or assign, income to you under C.R.S. § 14-10-115(5)(b), meaning the court calculates your child support obligation based on what you are capable of earning, not what you are actually earning.
Colorado courts have consistently held that both parents carry a duty to be employed to the best of their ability. In People v. Martinez, 70 P.3d 474 (Colo. 2003), the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed that a court may impute potential income when a parent is found to be shirking a support obligation. The first question is whether the parent is unreasonably passing up higher-paying work they are capable of doing. If the answer is yes, the court determines what that parent could reasonably earn and bases support on that figure.
When determining imputed income, courts look at a range of factors spelled out in C.R.S. § 14-10-115(5)(b.5), including the parent’s historical earnings, educational background, occupational qualifications, job skills, employment history, the availability of jobs in the local market, and the prevailing wage levels in the community.
Involuntary unemployment is treated differently. Losing a job through no fault of your own, such as a layoff or a company closure, does not automatically trigger imputation. But you need to be able to show the court that you are making genuine, documented efforts to find comparable work. Sending out applications, attending interviews, and keeping records of your job search all matter. A parent who sits on their hands and does nothing after a layoff may find the court unimpressed.
There are limited exceptions to imputation even for voluntary situations. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-115(5)(b)(III), a parent is not considered underemployed if their current employment is temporary and is reasonably intended to result in higher income in the foreseeable future, or if the employment represents a good faith career choice that is not designed to deprive a child of support and does not unreasonably reduce available support.
File Your Motion Promptly
Timing is one of the most important and most overlooked aspects of a child support modification. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-122, a modification is generally retroactive only to the date the motion to modify was filed, not to the date your income actually changed.
If you lose your job in March but do not file your motion until August, you are responsible for the full original support amount for every month between March and August, plus any interest that has accrued. There is no going back. The court has discretion not to make even the prospective modification retroactive to the filing date if doing so would create hardship for the other parent or the child, but the filing date is the earliest starting point in virtually all cases.
File as soon as you have grounds to do so. Do not wait until you have found new employment. Do not wait until arrears have piled up. Do not assume the other parent will voluntarily agree to reduce payments without a court order, and do not rely on an informal agreement between the two of you. Informal arrangements are not enforceable. The only binding modification is one the court has entered as an order.
What the Process Looks Like
A motion to modify child support is filed in the Colorado district court that issued the original order, which for most El Paso County residents means the 4th Judicial District. You will need to provide financial documentation supporting your change in circumstances, including proof of job loss, documentation of your current income or lack of income, records of your job search efforts, and recent tax returns and pay stubs from prior employment.
The court will apply the Colorado Child Support Guidelines, which use an income shares model based on both parents’ gross incomes and the number of overnights each parent has with the children. If your income has genuinely dropped and the new calculation results in at least a 10% change in the support obligation, the court has grounds to modify the order.
If both parents can reach an agreement on a modified amount, they can submit a stipulation for the court to review and approve. Even an agreed modification needs to be formally entered by the court to be enforceable. A handshake deal or a text exchange does not change your legal obligation.
If You Are the Parent Receiving Support
A job loss by the paying parent does not mean your child support simply stops. Your order remains in effect and any missed payments continue to accumulate as enforceable judgments with interest. If payments stop, you have enforcement options including filing a motion for contempt, requesting wage garnishment, and working with Colorado Child Support Services.
At the same time, it is worth understanding that a genuine, documented job loss by the other parent may eventually result in a modification. Courts will balance the child’s need for financial support against the practical reality of a parent’s ability to pay. If a modification is inevitable, participating in the process rather than resisting it can sometimes lead to a better outcome for everyone, including the child.
The Sooner You Act, the Better Your Options
Child support problems rarely improve by waiting. The longer a paying parent lets arrears accumulate, the harder the debt is to manage, the more leverage the enforcement system has, and the more difficult it becomes to demonstrate good faith to a court. Colorado family courts take child support obligations seriously, and they expect parents to take them seriously too.
If you have lost your job and have an existing child support order, the time to act is now. At Boal Law Firm, PC, we help parents in El Paso County navigate child support modifications and enforcement matters. Call us at (719) 203-6339 to schedule a consultation.