ARTICLE 14 CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

ARTICLE 14 Child Support Enforcement Procedures

Cross references: For support proceedings under the "Colorado Children's Code", see article 6 of title 19; for the "Uniform Interstate Family Support Act", see article 5 of this title; for nonsupport, see article 6 of this title; for support proceedings under the "Colorado Child Support Enforcement Act", see article 13 of title 26; for the Colorado child support collection protection act, see article 17 of title 5.

Law reviews: For article, "The Nuts and Bolts of Collecting Support", see 19 Colo. Law. 1595 (1990); for article, "Child Support Enforcement Remedies Available Through Child Support Enforcement Agencies", see 33 Colo. Law. 57 (Jan. 2004).

14-14-101. Short title.

14-14-102. Definitions.

14-14-103. Additional remedies.

14-14-104. Recovery for child support debt.

14-14-105. Continuing garnishment.

14-14-106. Interest.

14-14-107. Wage assignment - applicability. (Repealed)

14-14-108. Child support debt offset. (Repealed)

14-14-109. Security, bond, or guarantee.

14-14-110. Contempt of court.

14-14-111. Immediate deductions for family support obligations - legislative declaration - procedures applicability. (Repealed)

14-14-111.5. Income assignments for child support or maintenance.

14-14-112. Deductions for health insurance.

14-14-113. Recordation of social security numbers in certain family matters.

■ 14-14-101. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Colorado Child Support Enforcement Procedures Act".

Source: L. 81: Entire article added, p. 905, § 1, effective June 8.

■ 14-14-102. Definitions. As used in this article 14, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Court" means any court in this state having jurisdiction to determine the liability of persons for the support of another person.

(2) "Delegate child support enforcement unit" means the unit of a county department of human or social services or its contractual agent that is responsible for carrying out the provisions of this article 14. The term "contractual agent" includes a private child support collection agency, operating as an independent contractor with a county department of human or social services, or a district attorney's office, that contracts to provide any services that the delegate child support enforcement unit is required by law to provide.

(3) "Dependent child" means any person who is legally entitled to or the subject of a court order for the provision of proper or necessary subsistence, education, medical care, or any other care necessary for his health, guidance, or well-being who is not otherwise emancipated, self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States.

(4) "Duty of support" means a duty of support imposed by law or by order, decree, or judgment of any court, whether interlocutory or final, or whether incidental to an action for divorce, separation, separate maintenance or otherwise. "Duty of support" includes the duty to pay arrearages of support past-due and unpaid.

(4.3) "Employer", for purposes of income withholding pursuant to section 14-5-501, includes any person, company, or corporation, Pinnacol Assurance, or other insurance carrier paying any type of workers' compensation benefits pursuant to articles 40 to 47 of title 8, C.R.S.

(4.5) "Family support registry" means a central registry maintained and operated by the state department of human services pursuant to section 26-13-114, C.R.S., that receives, processes, disburses, and maintains a record of the payment of child support, child support when combined with maintenance, maintenance, child support arrears, or child support debt.

(4.7) "Health insurance" means medical insurance or medical and dental insurance coverage or both of human beings against bodily injury or illness. Such coverage may be provided through a parent's employer or may be acquired individually by the parent.

(5) "Obligee" means any person or agency to whom a duty of support is owed or any person or agency who has commenced a proceeding for the establishment or enforcement of an alleged duty of support.

(6) "Obligor" means any person owing a duty of support, or against whom a proceeding for the establishment or enforcement of a duty of support is commenced.

(6.5) "Plan" means a group health benefit plan or combination of plans, other than public assistance programs, that provides medical care or benefits for a child. "Plan" includes, but is not limited to, a health maintenance organization, self-funded group, state or local government group health plan, church group plan, medical or health service corporation, or other similar plan.

(7) "Public assistance" means assistance payments and social services provided to or on behalf of eligible recipients through programs administered or supervised by the state department of human services, either in cooperation with the federal government or independently without federal aid, pursuant to article 2 of title 26, C.R.S.

(8) "Support order" means any judgment, decree, or order of support in favor of an obligee, whether temporary or final or subject to modification, revocation, or remission, regardless of the kind of action or proceeding in which it is entered.

(9) "Wages" means income to an obligor in any form, including, but not limited to, actual gross income; compensation paid or payable for personal services, whether denominated as wages; earnings from an employer; salaries; payment to an independent contractor for labor or services; commissions; tips declared by the individual for purposes of reporting to the federal internal revenue service or tips imputed to bring the employee's gross earnings to the minimum wage for the number of hours worked, whichever is greater; rents; bonuses; severance pay; retirement benefits and pensions, including, but not limited to, those paid pursuant to articles 51, 54, 54.5, and 54.6 of title 24, and article 30 of title 31; workers' compensation benefits; social security benefits, including social security benefits actually received by a parent as a result of the disability of that parent or as the result of the death of the minor child's stepparent, but not including social security benefits received by a minor child or on behalf of a minor child as a result of the death or disability of a stepparent of the child; disability benefits; dividends; royalties; trust account distributions; any moneys drawn by a self-employed individual for personal use; funds held in or payable from any health, accident, disability, or casualty insurance to the extent that such insurance replaces wages or provides income in lieu of wages; monetary gifts; monetary prizes, excluding lottery winnings not required by the rules of the Colorado lottery commission to be paid only at the lottery office; taxable distributions from general partnerships, limited partnerships, closely held corporations, or limited liability companies; interest; trust income; annuities; payments received from a third party to cover the health care cost of the child but which payments have not been applied to cover the child's health care costs; state tax refunds; and capital gains. "Wages", for the purposes of child support enforcement, may also include unemployment compensation benefits, but only subject to the provisions and requirements of section 8-73-102 (5).

Source: L. 81: Entire article added, p. 905, § 1, effective June 8. L. 82: (3) amended, p. 281, § 4, effective April 2. L. 83: (3) amended, p. 651, § 1, effective March 3. L. 84: (9) added, p. 480, § 1, effective July 1. L. 87: (9) amended, p. 596, § 26, effective July 10. L. 89: (9) amended, p. 793, § 17, effective July 1. L. 90: (4.5) added, p. 1414, § 14, effective June 8; (2) and (9) amended, pp. 891, 564, §§ 12, 36, effective July 1. L. 92: (9) amended, p. 578, § 6, effective July 1; (4.7) added, p. 169, § 3, effective August 1. L. 93: (9) amended, p. 1872, § 6, effective June 1. L. 94: (9) amended, p. 1539, § 7, effective May 31; (4.5)(a) and (7) amended, p. 2646, § 109, effective July 1; (9) amended, p. 1253, § 7, effective July 1. L. 96: (4.5) and (9) amended, p. 599, § 9, effective July 1. L. 97: (4.3) added, p. 562, § 7, effective July 1. L. 98: (9) amended, p. 921, § 8, effective July 1. L. 99: (9) amended, p. 621, § 16, effective August 4. L. 2001: (4.3) amended, p. 721, § 3, effective May 31. L. 2002: (4.3) amended, p. 1892, § 52, effective July 1; (6.5) added, p. 23, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2003: (2) amended, p. 1265, § 52, effective July 1. L. 2004: (4.5) amended, p. 387, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2005: (2) amended, p. 498, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2009: (9) amended, (SB 09-282), ch. 288, p. 1397, § 60, effective January 1, 2010. L. 2018: IP and (2) amended, (SB 18-092), ch. 38, p. 401, § 16, effective August 8. L. 2020: (9) amended, HB (20-1402), ch. 216, p. 1045, § 24, effective June 30.

Editor's note: Amendments to subsection (9) by Senate Bill 94-088 and House Bill 94-1345 were harmonized.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act amending subsections (4.5)(a) and (7), see section 1 of chapter 345, Session Laws of Colorado 1994. For the legislative declaration in SB 18-092, see section 1 of chapter 38, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.

■ 14-14-103. Additional remedies. The remedies provided in this article are in addition to and not in substitution for any other remedies.

Source: L. 81: Entire article added, p. 906, § 1, effective June 8.

■ 14-14-104. Recovery for child support debt. (1) Any payment of public assistance by a county department of human or social services made to or for the benefit of any dependent child or children creates a debt, which is due and owing to the county department of human or social services, recoverable by the county as a debt due to the state by the parent or parents who are responsible for support of the dependent child or children, or by the parent whose rights were terminated pursuant to section 19-5-105.5...