A mother at the kitchen counter with the child support worksheet, a pay stub, a calculator and her son’s photo

When child support ends in Colorado: nineteen, and the exceptions.

For orders entered since July 1, 1997, child support terminates automatically at nineteen for the last or only child. Three things extend it: high school, a disability, a written agreement — and nothing else. Two things end it early: marriage and military service. What surprises parents is everything around the date — the multi-child order that does not step down by itself, the withholding that continues against arrears, the college agreement a court will enforce, and the out-of-state order whose age of emancipation travels with it.

01The rule and the exceptions
02High school, disability, agreements
03More than one child
04What survives emancipation
05Stopping the withholding
06What to file, and when
→What people ask first

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The statute sets the date. The order does not read it for you.

The most common question I get from a paying parent in the last year of an order is whether they can simply stop on the child’s nineteenth birthday, and the most common question from the receiving parent is whether they have to let them. The statute answers both: for the last or only child, support terminates without either party filing a motion when the child attains nineteen years of age. No motion, no order, no permission. Then it lists the exceptions, and the exceptions are where the money is.

The rest of this page is the machinery around that date: the high-school extension and its month-end rule, the disabled child, the college agreement, the multi-child order that keeps running at the full amount until someone files, the arrears that emancipation cannot touch, and the income assignment that keeps coming out of a paycheck until an employer is told in writing to stop. Most of these are handled with a short filing at the right time. All of them cost money when they are handled late.

A teenager on the edge of his bed with headphones and his phone, his father leaning in the bedroom doorway — The last child, the last month

The age

For orders entered on or after July 1, 1997, support ends at nineteen for the last or only child, automatically.

+1 month

The high-school rule

A child still in high school is supported through the end of the month following graduation; a re-enrolled child, not beyond twenty-one.

No cap

A disabled child

The court or the county unit may order support to continue beyond nineteen for a mentally or physically disabled child, with no upper age.

Children: not automatic

Support ends by itself only for the last child. Otherwise the order runs at the full amount until a motion is filed.

The rule, and its five exceptions.

The statute in one table: what ends support, what extends it, and what ends it early.

The event	What the statute says	What to do
The last or only child turns nineteen	Unless a court finds that a child is otherwise emancipated, emancipation occurs and child support terminates without either party filing a motion when the last or only child attains nineteen years of age, unless one of the listed conditions exists.	Confirm no exception applies; stop the income assignment with a written notice to the employer (see below); keep paying any arrears.
The child is still in high school	If the child is still in high school or an equivalent program, support continues until the end of the month following graduation. A child who leaves before graduation and later re-enrolls is entitled to support from re-enrollment until the end of the month after graduation, but not beyond age twenty-one. A concurrent-enrollment program is not an equivalent program.	Calendar the graduation date; the end of the following month is the last payment. Get the school’s written confirmation of enrollment and the expected graduation date.
The child is disabled	If the child is mentally or physically disabled, the court or the delegate child support enforcement unit may order child support, including payments for medical expenses or insurance, to continue beyond the age of nineteen.	File before the nineteenth birthday, with the medical evidence and the child’s needs. The order can run as long as the disability does.
The parents agreed in writing	The parties may agree otherwise in a written stipulation after July 1, 1997; they may stipulate to continue support beyond nineteen or to provide for post-secondary education expenses.	Read the separation agreement. A college clause is enforced as written, and the Court of Appeals has read limits into open-ended ones: to age twenty-one or the degree, and to the guideline amount.
The child marries	If the child marries, the child shall be considered emancipated as of the date of the marriage. If the marriage is annulled, dissolved or declared invalid, child support may be reinstated.	Support ends on the wedding date; a motion is still needed to adjust a multi-child order.
The child enters active military duty	If the child enters into active military duty, the child shall be considered emancipated.	Ends on entry to active duty. Reserve or National Guard enlistment without active duty does not, by itself.
The court finds the child otherwise emancipated	The statute preserves the court’s power to find that a child is otherwise emancipated, on the facts.	A minor may be emancipated for some purposes but not for others; a summer job before college is not emancipation. Rare, and decided case by case.

Orders entered before July 1, 1997 run under the law in force when they were entered, which may mean twenty-one and may include post-secondary support; those orders are modified for an age change only from the filing of a motion. A parent under a pre-1997 order who stopped paying at nineteen was held in contempt.

Support ends on a date the statute fixes. The withholding, the step-down and the arrears end only when someone files.

High school, disability, and the college clause, in detail.

Three exceptions that account for most of the disputes.

The Colorado child support guidelines beside a worksheet — June 30, for a May graduation

The high-school month-end rule.

A May graduation ends support on June 30; a re-enrolled child is covered to the month after graduation but never past twenty-one; a disabled child has no upper age; a college clause is enforced as written.

A nineteen-year-old senior is supported through the end of the month following graduation: a May graduation ends support on June 30. The rule is about the child’s status, not the parent’s knowledge; a paying parent who assumed support ended on the birthday owes the difference. Where a child left school and returned, support resumes on re-enrollment and ends the month after graduation, but never past twenty-one. Whether a GED or other program is an “equivalent program” is decided on the program itself; since May 2025 a concurrent-enrollment program is not one, and a child in one is emancipated on completing the local district’s minimum graduation requirements.

The disabled adult child.

The court or the county child support unit may order support, including medical expenses and insurance, to continue beyond nineteen for a child who is mentally or physically disabled. There is no upper age. The motion is filed before the birthday, on evidence of the disability and the child’s need, and the guideline is applied with the adult child’s own income and benefits taken into account. For a child receiving SSI or Medicaid the order is drafted with the benefit rules in mind, sometimes through a special needs trust, so that support does not cost the child more than it provides.

The college clause.

A Colorado court cannot order post-secondary support for an order entered after July 1, 1997. Parents can agree to it, and a written agreement in the decree is a support order the court will enforce. The Court of Appeals has read limits into open-ended clauses: an agreement to support a child through college was capped at age twenty-one or completion of the degree, and at the guideline amount. A clause that says what it means — tuition and fees at an in-state public rate, for eight semesters, conditioned on full-time enrollment and grades, ending at twenty-two or the degree — is enforced as written. A clause that says “the parents will contribute to college” is a lawsuit.

More than one child: the order does not step down by itself.

The automatic termination applies to the last or only child. Everything before that requires a motion, and the timing decides who pays for the delay.

A child support worksheet with a pen and calculator — The two-child worksheet, on today’s facts

What actually happens.

The order runs at the full multi-child amount until a motion is filed, and the reduction runs from the filing. File before the birthday, and never just pay less.

An order for three children is a single monthly number from the three-child column of the schedule, not three separate amounts. When the oldest turns nineteen, the statute does not reduce it; the order runs at the three-child figure until the court enters a new one. The modification runs from the filing of the motion, so a parent who files in March for a June birthday has the new number in place on the day it should change, and a parent who files the following January has paid seven months at the old number and cannot get them back.

Not a simple subtraction. The new amount is the two-child worksheet on the parents’ current incomes, current overnights and current expenses, under the 2026 table. Sometimes it is lower than the parent expected; occasionally, where incomes or the schedule have changed, it is higher. Both parents should see the worksheet before the stipulation is signed.

What not to do. Paying the amount you think is right, without an order, is how a parent in good faith ends up in a contempt hearing. Every installment is a judgment at the ordered amount the day it comes due. The Court of Appeals has affirmed contempt against a father who simply stopped paying when he thought the order should have ended.

Every installment is a judgment at the ordered amount, the day it comes due. Being right about the date is not a defense to the procedure.

What survives emancipation, and what does not.

Emancipation ends the duty to pay support going forward. It changes nothing about the past.

	After the child emancipates
Arrears	Every unpaid installment remains a final money judgment with interest: twelve percent compounded monthly on support due before July 1, 2021, ten percent compounded annually after. Enforceable for twenty years from entry, by withholding, intercepts, liens, license suspension and contempt. The parent owed the money may waive the interest; the court may reduce it for good cause and set a repayment period.
Income withholding	Continues until all current support, past-due support, medical support and fees are paid in full, and until the employer is told in writing to stop. It does not end on the birthday.
Medical support and insurance	The duty to carry the child on a health plan ends with support unless the order or an agreement says otherwise; an adult child may stay on a parent’s plan under federal law to twenty-six, but that is the plan’s rule, not a support obligation.
A college or extension agreement	Enforced as a support order, within the limits the court reads into it.
Overpayments	A parent who kept paying after termination can seek reimbursement or a credit against arrears; the court has discretion, and the receiving parent has every incentive to argue the payments were voluntary. Stop the withholding on time instead.
Maintenance	Unaffected. Maintenance runs on its own term and its own statute; a child’s emancipation is not by itself a change in circumstances for it, though a recipient’s changed expenses can be. The Ending or Reducing Maintenance page covers it.

Stopping the withholding, and the Family Support Registry.

Nearly every Colorado support order is paid by income assignment through the Family Support Registry. The assignment is written to outlast the child.

A ledger of monthly support payments — Until the employer is told in writing

How it ends.

The income assignment continues until the employer receives a written termination notice, and not while arrears remain. Each parent has a short list of steps.

The income assignment remains in effect until further notice from the obligee, the obligee’s representative, the county child support unit or the court, and whoever modifies or terminates it must promptly notify the employer in writing. It is terminated only when all current support, past-due support, medical support and processing fees owed under the order are paid in full. An employer that has not received an official termination notice keeps withholding, and is right to.

The paying parent’s steps. Confirm the termination date under the rule above and that no exception applies; confirm with the Registry that there are no arrears; then obtain the termination notice, through the county unit if it is enforcing the order or by a short motion to the court if not, and see that the employer receives it before the last payment date. Where arrears remain, the assignment continues against them at the ordered amount, and the parent can ask the court for a repayment schedule.

The receiving parent’s steps. Confirm the date and the exceptions; where the child is still in high school or disabled, or an agreement extends support, put the employer and the county unit on notice before the birthday so the assignment does not lapse. Where arrears exist, the assignment is the collection tool; do not agree to its termination as a courtesy.

What to file, and when.

Short filings, on a calendar. The state has a form for each of them.

Situation	The filing	When
Last or only child turning nineteen, no exception, no arrears	No motion is needed for the termination; a notice terminating the income assignment to the employer, through the county unit or by a motion to terminate child support (JDF 1408) where the court’s order is needed	Sixty days before the birthday, so the employer’s payroll catches the last cycle
Older of two or more children turning nineteen	Motion to modify child support (JDF 1403) with the new worksheet, or a stipulation (JDF 1404) if the other parent agrees	Before the birthday; the reduction runs from filing
Child still in high school at nineteen	Nothing; support continues by statute. The receiving parent sends the school’s enrollment confirmation to the county unit and the employer if withholding is questioned	Before the birthday
Disabled child	Motion to continue support beyond nineteen, with medical evidence and a worksheet	Well before the birthday; the order should be in place when the old one would end
College or extension agreement	Nothing until there is a dispute; then a motion to enforce the agreement as a support order	When a payment is missed
Arrears at emancipation	Nothing to file to keep them; a motion to set a repayment schedule or reduce interest for good cause if the paying parent needs one	Any time
Overpayment after termination	Motion for reimbursement or credit	Promptly; delay is read as acquiescence

A pre-1997 order, an out-of-state order, or an order with a non-standard termination clause is read before anything is filed. The date is in the order and the statute together, and the two do not always agree at first glance.

What I tell every parent in the last year of an order.

Six things, in the order they come up. Not legal advice for your case; the mistakes I have watched for thirty years.

Across a conference table from her lawyer, a woman listens, a closed folder in front of her, the foothills in the window

Find the date in the order and the statute together.
Nineteen, unless high school, disability, an agreement, a pre-1997 order or an out-of-state order says otherwise. Do not assume the birthday.
File before the birthday for a multi-child order.
The reduction runs from filing, not from the birthday. Sixty days before is right; the day after is seven months late.
Never just stop paying.
Every installment is a judgment with interest at the ordered amount until the order changes. A parent who was right about the date and wrong about the procedure still ends up in a contempt hearing.
Stop the withholding in writing.
The employer keeps withholding until it receives an official termination notice. Overpayments are recovered slowly, if at all.
Arrears do not emancipate.
The judgment and the interest outlive the child’s nineteenth birthday by twenty years. Deal with them by a repayment order, not by hoping.
Write the college clause like a contract.
Tuition at what rate, how many semesters, what conditions, ending when. The vague clause is the expensive one.

Six things people get wrong.

Child support ends at eighteen.

Nineteen in Colorado, for orders since 1997, and later for a child still in high school.

It stops automatically when each child turns nineteen.

Only for the last or only child. A multi-child order keeps running at the full amount until a motion is filed.

Once my child is nineteen, the arrears go away.

Every unpaid installment is a judgment with interest, enforceable for twenty years. Emancipation changes nothing about the past.

The withholding stops on the birthday.

It stops when the employer receives a written termination notice, and not while arrears remain.

A judge can order me to pay for college.

Not for an order entered after July 1, 1997. Only an agreement in writing does that, and the court enforces it as written.

My child moved out and works, so support is over.

A job and an apartment do not emancipate a child under nineteen. Marriage and active military duty do.

What to bring, and what to settle first.

Before the first meeting

Bring the order and the dates.

The decree, the support order and any later modification, with the date each was entered
The separation agreement, for any college or extension clause
Each child’s date of birth and school status, with the school’s enrollment letter if a child is nineteen
The Family Support Registry payment history, showing any arrears
The current worksheet and both parents’ current income information, for a multi-child step-down
Medical evidence, for a disabled child

Before you file

Four things settled first.

The exact termination date for each child, under the order and the statute
Whether arrears exist, and whether interest can be reduced or scheduled
The new worksheet for a multi-child order, on today’s facts
Who sends the termination notice to the employer, and when

Support ends on a date the statute fixes. The withholding, the step-down and the arrears end only when someone files.

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The emancipation questions that fill my inbox.

At what age does child support end in Colorado?

Nineteen. For orders entered on or after July 1, 1997, emancipation occurs and child support terminates without either party filing a motion when the last or only child reaches nineteen, unless the child is still in high school, is disabled, the parents agreed in writing to extend support, or the court finds the child emancipated earlier.

My son is nineteen and still in high school. When does support stop?

At the end of the month following graduation. A child who dropped out and re-enrolled is entitled to support again from re-enrollment until the end of the month after graduation, but not beyond twenty-one. Since May 2025 a concurrent-enrollment program does not count as an equivalent of high school, and a child in one is emancipated on completing the district’s minimum graduation requirements.

Does support stop automatically when my oldest turns nineteen if I have two children?

No. The automatic termination is for the last or only child. With two or more children, the order stays at the full amount until a motion is filed, and the reduction runs from the filing date, not the birthday. File before the birthday; a parent who simply pays less owes the difference as a judgment, with interest, and can be held in contempt.

Can support continue past nineteen for a disabled child?

Yes. If the child is mentally or physically disabled, the court or the county child support unit may order support to continue beyond nineteen, without an upper age limit. The motion is filed before the child turns nineteen, with the medical evidence and the child’s need, and the order can run for as long as the disability does.

Can we agree to support through college?

Yes, in writing. The parents may stipulate to continue support beyond nineteen or to provide for post-secondary education expenses, and a written agreement in the decree is enforceable as a support order, within the limits the court will read into it. Without an agreement, a Colorado court cannot order college support for an order entered after July 1, 1997.

What happens to the arrears when my child turns nineteen?

Nothing good, for the parent who owes them. Each missed installment became a judgment the day it came due, with interest, and emancipation does not touch it. Income withholding continues until all past-due support, medical support and fees are paid in full, and the judgment can be executed on for twenty years.

How do I stop the wage withholding once support ends?

The income assignment remains in effect until the parent receiving support, the county child support unit or the court notifies the employer in writing that it is terminated, and it does not terminate while arrears remain. With no arrears, a request to the county unit or a motion to the court produces the termination notice to the employer through the Family Support Registry; a parent who does nothing keeps paying, and then has to recover the overpayment.

My child got married, or joined the military. Does support end?

Yes. A child who marries is emancipated as of the date of the marriage, though support may be reinstated if the marriage is annulled or dissolved. A child who enters active military duty is emancipated. A summer job or an apartment does not emancipate a child; the Colorado Supreme Court has held that a minor may be emancipated for some purposes but not for others.

Our order is from Arizona, where support ends at eighteen. Now that we live in Colorado, does it run to nineteen?

No. Under the interstate support act, a Colorado court may not modify any aspect of another state’s order that could not be modified under that state’s law, including the duration of the obligation. The age of emancipation travels with the order.

What about orders entered before 1997?

Older orders run under the law in force when they were entered, which for orders between 1991 and 1997 generally meant twenty-one, and may include post-secondary support. A parent under a pre-1997 order who stopped paying at nineteen without a motion was held in contempt by the Court of Appeals. Read the order; the answer is in its date.

Keep reading

Where to go next.

The next page in this chapter, the pages that belong with it, and the blog posts on the same question.

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Support ends on a date the statute fixes. The paperwork does not end itself.

A consultation is a working session, in person in Greenwood Village or by video: we read the order, I tell you the date support ends for each child, what survives it, and what has to be filed to make the withholding stop or the amount step down. Your note reaches my office directly; during business hours we call you back within the hour, run the conflicts check, and set the meeting.