Written for parents

Child support and the house: the 2026 formula, the mortgage, the budget

Since March 2026 Colorado credits every overnight in the child support formula, so where the kids sleep and what each parent pays are the same calculation. Here is how the formula works, how it changes the housing decision, and what a lender will count.

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2026

Every overnight counts

HB25-1159 (effective March 1, 2026) removed the old 93-overnight cliff. More overnights, lower transfer, on a smooth curve.

Both incomes

Income shares

Combined income against the schedule, split by each parent's share, adjusted for overnights, childcare and health insurance.

The lender

Received support counts with conditions

Decree in hand, usually six months of receipts, three years left to run. Paid support counts against you from day one.

Ends

At 19

Colorado child support runs to 19 unless the decree says otherwise. Budget the house for the years after it stops.

The short answer

Run the parenting plan and the housing budget together. More overnights at your home means lower support paid or received, and a home that can hold those overnights. A lender counts support you receive only with a decree, receipts and three years left; a lender counts support you pay from the first order.

How the formula works, in one pass

Add both parents’ gross monthly incomes (wages, bonuses averaged, maintenance received counts as income to the recipient).
Find the basic obligation for that combined income and number of children on the statutory schedule.
Split it by each parent’s share of the combined income.
Adjust for overnights: under the 2026 formula every overnight shifts the obligation, with no cliff at 93.
Add childcare and the children’s health insurance in proportion; the paying parent’s share is the transfer.

The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes a free calculator with the 2026 schedule. Run three versions before mediation: the schedule you have, the one you want, and the one the other parent wants.

Worked, on $12,000 a month combined

Incomes$8,000 and $4,000; two children.

Basic obligationAbout $2,300 a month on the schedule, split two-thirds / one-third.

Equal overnightsThe transfer from the higher earner drops to roughly $500 to $700 a month after the overnight adjustment, before childcare and insurance.

Primary home with one parentAt 80 percent of overnights with the lower earner, the transfer is closer to $1,300 to $1,500. Figures rounded; the calculator controls.

What it means for the house

The higher earner keeping the house on one income, after maintenance and child support, is the plan that fails most often. Run the three columns.
The lower earner keeping the house needs a lender to count the support: decree signed, receipts, three years left. Most decrees give 60 to 90 days to refinance; ask for longer if the receipt history has not started.
Two homes with equal overnights lowers the transfer and needs two homes that can hold the schedule. The sale proceeds usually fund both down payments.
Support ends at 19. A house budgeted on support for a 16-year-old is a house you have to carry alone in three years.

Buying on one income with kids

CHFA counts you as a first-time buyer after three years without ownership and offers down-payment help; metroDPA helps in the metro. Maintenance and child support received count only with a decree, receipts and three years to run. Mike Oswald at Rate, NMLS 261003, does the honest pre-approval before you look; you may use any lender. Buying after divorce.

The kids first, then the numbers

The house is not the same thing as the kids' stability. Two homes they can count on usually is.

Every parent we talk to starts with the same fear: that selling the house means losing what the kids have. Sometimes keeping it is right. More often the thing the kids need (both parents close, a bedroom at each home, the same friends and activities) is possible in two smaller homes, and the house is what pays for them.

We give both parents the same written number at the same time, tell you what one income carries, and help you find the second home inside the parenting plan. Nothing here is logged to an account, and we contact you only if you say yes.

A written valuation to both parents, free

The one-income number a lender will approve

Homes inside your parenting-plan distance

A discovery call with no pitch

Book a discovery call

Where to go next

Plain-language education, not advice. Divorce Decisions is published by The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC, a real estate team. Nothing here is legal, tax, lending or financial advice, and reading it does not create any professional relationship. Colorado law and lender rules change; confirm anything that matters to your case with a licensed Colorado attorney, a tax professional, and your lender. See our full disclaimer.

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Ask us what the numbers allow

Tell us the schedule, the incomes roughly, and who hopes to keep the house. We run the three columns and get you a real pre-approval before the decree.

Call or text 303-955-4220

A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Prefer email? homes@kennarealestate.com