Updated for 2026 guidelines
Colorado Child Support Arrears Calculator 2026
Colorado used to be one of the harshest states for support debt: 12 percent a year, compoundable monthly. In 2021 the legislature softened the rate for new debt to 10 percent, compoundable annually, and left the old rate on the old balances. Which regime your arrears sit in depends on one date, and this page keeps the two straight.
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Estimate a Colorado arrears balance
Estimated arrears with interest: $5,500.00
Interest of $500.00 at 10% compound per year (C.R.S. § 14-14-106 (arrears interest); § 5-12-101 (8% legal rate)).
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Arrears principalC.R.S. 2024 Title 14 official PDF (14-10-114 maintenance, 14-10-115 child support guidelines, 14-14-106 arrears interest) (Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services (leg.colorado.gov)) | $5,000.00 |
| Interest at 10% per year, compounded annually, for 12 month(s) (C.R.S. § 14-14-106 (arrears interest); § 5-12-101 (8% legal rate))Computes the CURRENT regime only: support debt accruing on or after 2021-07-01 carries the legal rate plus 2%, which is 10% per year, and it may be compounded ANNUALLY (HB21-1220). Arrears that were already due and owing before 2021-07-01 stay on the old regime: legal rate plus 4%, which is 12% per year, and that interest may be compounded MONTHLY; a pre-2021 balance therefore grows faster than this tool shows. Interest is waivable (the receiving party may collect it but need not), and 14-14-106(2) lets the obligor ask the court to disallow some or all calculated interest for good cause, with equitable repayment periods available under 14-14-106(3).C.R.S. 2024 Title 14 official PDF (14-10-114 maintenance, 14-10-115 child support guidelines, 14-14-106 arrears interest) (Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services (leg.colorado.gov)) | $500.00 |
| Arrears principal plus interestC.R.S. 2024 Title 14 official PDF (14-10-114 maintenance, 14-10-115 child support guidelines, 14-14-106 arrears interest) (Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services (leg.colorado.gov)) | $5,500.00 |
Assumptions
- Accrual period expressed as 12 month(s); partial months prorate.
- Compounding applied annually at 10% per period. A partial compounding period prorates through a fractional exponent, which slightly understates the balance versus compounding each completed period and adding simple interest for the remainder; the tool never overstates.
Estimate only. The court or state agency calculation controls.
Colorado arrears interest under C.R.S. § 14-14-106 (arrears interest); § 5-12-101 (8% legal rate); rules last reviewed 2026-08-08.
How arrears interest works in Colorado
Arrears are support installments that came due and went unpaid. Colorado law lets the receiving parent collect interest on them under section 14-14-106, and since House Bill 21-1220 the section runs two regimes side by side, split by the date the debt accrued.
Debt that was already due and owing before July 1, 2021 carries the old rate: the statutory legal rate of 8 percent plus 4, which is 12 percent a year, and that interest may be compounded monthly. Debt accruing on or after July 1, 2021 carries the softer current rate: the legal rate plus 2, which is 10 percent a year, compoundable annually.
The difference is not small. Ten thousand dollars of arrears under the old regime grows to $18,166.97 over five years at 12 percent compounded monthly. The same $10,000 under the current regime reaches $16,105.10 at 10 percent compounded annually. A calculator that applies the old rate to new debt overstates the balance by thousands.
Two more features soften the picture. The interest belongs to the receiving parent, who may collect it but does not have to, and need not keep interest-balance accounts. And the obligor can ask the court to disallow some or all of the calculated interest for good cause, weighing whether there was good cause for the missed payments and whether collecting the interest would work an undue hardship or substantial injustice on either side. The court can also set an equitable repayment schedule.
This tool computes the CURRENT regime: 10 percent compounded annually, the rate that governs everything accrued since July 2021. If part of your balance predates that split, the true total is higher than this tool shows, and the ledger from the Family Support Registry or the court is the number that counts.
- Debt accruing on or after July 1, 2021
- 10% per year (legal rate 8% + 2%), may be compounded annuallysource
- Arrears due before July 1, 2021
- 12% per year (legal rate 8% + 4%), may be compounded monthlysource
- Statutory legal rate
- 8% per annum under C.R.S. § 5-12-101source
- Obligor relief
- The court may disallow some or all interest for good cause and set an equitable repayment period (§ 14-14-106(2)-(3))source
How to use this estimate
Enter the unpaid principal and how many months it has been outstanding. The tool applies 10 percent a year compounded annually, the current-regime rate for support debt accrued since July 1, 2021.
If some of your balance was already due before July 1, 2021, that slice grows faster: 12 percent a year, compoundable monthly, until it is paid. This tool does not blend the two regimes, so treat its output as a floor when old debt is in the mix.
Remember the interest is optional on the receiving side and challengeable on the paying side. A parent owed support can choose to collect principal only, and a parent who owes it can ask the court to trim the interest for good cause. The Family Support Registry ledger or a court accounting is the figure enforcement will actually use.
What this estimate includes
- The current-regime arithmetic: 10 percent per year, compounded annually, on the principal you enter
- The statutory citations for both regimes, so you can date your own balance
- The good-cause disallowance and equitable repayment provisions, named so you know they exist
What it leaves out
- The pre-July-2021 regime math (12 percent, monthly compounding); balances that old grow faster than shown
- Blended balances that straddle the 2021 split date
- Payment histories, tax refund interceptions, and registry ledger adjustments
- Interest another state added before a case transferred to Colorado
Colorado arrears FAQs
What is the interest rate on child support arrears in Colorado?
It depends on when the debt accrued. Support debt accruing on or after July 1, 2021 carries 10 percent a year, which may be compounded annually. Arrears that were already due and owing before that date carry the older, harsher rate: 12 percent a year, which may be compounded monthly. Both come from section 14-14-106, which builds on the 8 percent statutory legal rate.
Why do so many sites say Colorado charges 12 percent compounded monthly?
Because that was the whole story before House Bill 21-1220. The 12 percent monthly-compounding rule governed all Colorado support debt for years and still governs balances from before July 2021. But quoting it as the rate for new debt is wrong: everything accrued since July 1, 2021 carries 10 percent compounded annually. A five-year, $10,000 example shows the gap: $18,166.97 under the old regime versus $16,105.10 under the current one.
Does interest on Colorado arrears accrue automatically?
The right to it does, but the collecting is up to the receiving parent. The statute says the person entitled to the support may collect the interest, is not required to maintain interest-balance accounts, and can simply waive it. Many parents do, because pressing the interest can make a realistic repayment plan harder.
Can a Colorado court reduce the interest I owe?
Yes. Section 14-14-106(2) lets the parent who owes the debt ask the court to disallow part or all of the calculated interest for good cause. The court weighs whether there was good cause for the nonpayment and whether collecting the interest would create undue hardship or substantial injustice for either side. Subsection (3) also lets the court set an equitable repayment period for the arrears themselves.
Which regime does my balance fall under?
Date each missed installment. Payments that came due before July 1, 2021 sit in the 12 percent regime. Payments that came due on or after that date sit in the 10 percent regime. A long-running case can hold both at once, which is why the Family Support Registry ledger, not any single-rate calculator, is the number a court will enforce.
Do Colorado arrears ever expire?
Support installments vest as they come due and are enforceable as judgments. A later modification cannot retroactively erase installments that already vested; changes reach back only to the filing of the motion. The debt does not age out on its own, and enforcement tools like income assignment, license suspension, and tax refund interception stay available while it is unpaid.
Official sources
Official sources last verified: .
- C.R.S. 2024 Title 14 official PDF (14-10-114 maintenance, 14-10-115 child support guidelines, 14-14-106 arrears interest)
Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services (leg.colorado.gov) Last checked
- C.R.S. 2024 Title 5 official PDF (5-12-101: statutory legal rate, 8% per annum compounded annually)
Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services (leg.colorado.gov) Last checked
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Changelog: page first published with the 2021 split-regime story: 10 percent compounded annually for new debt, 12 percent compounded monthly for pre-July-2021 balances. Material changes are dated in the update log.