2021 Colorado Code
Title 14 - Domestic Matters
Article 14 - Child Support Enforcement Procedures
§ 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 and who was ordered to pay child support for the benefit of a dependent child, in an amount to be determined as follows:
   1. Where there has been a court order directed to a parent, the child support debt of that parent is an amount equal to the amount of public assistance paid to the extent of the full amount of arrearages under the order. However, the county department of human or social services, through its delegate child support enforcement unit, may petition for modification of the order on the same grounds as a party to the action.
   2. Where there has been no court or administrative order for child support, the county department of human or social services, through its delegate child support enforcement unit, may initiate a court or administrative action to establish the amount of child support debt accrued, and the court or delegate child support enforcement unit, after hearing or upon stipulation or upon a default order, shall enter an order for child support debt. The debt must be based on the amount of current child support due, or which would have been due if there were an existing order for child support, under the current child support enforcement guidelines in effect on the date of the stipulation, default order, or hearing to establish the child support debt times the number of months the family received public assistance. The total amount of child support debt must not exceed the total amount paid for public assistance. A child support debt established pursuant to this subsection (1)(b) is in addition to any subsequent child support debt accrued pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section.

2. The county department of human or social services, through its delegate child support enforcement unit, must be subrogated to the right of the dependent child or children or person having legal and physical custody of said child or children or having been allocated decision-making authority with respect to the child or children to pursue any child support action existing under the laws of this state to obtain reimbursement of public assistance expended. If a court enters a judgment for or orders the payment of any amount of child support to be paid by an obligor, the county department of human or social services must be subrogated to the debt created by such judgment or order.
3. An agreement between any one parent or custodial person or person allocated parental responsibilities and the obligor, either relieving the obligor of any duty of support or responsibility therefor or purporting to settle past, present, or future child support obligations either as settlement or as prepayment, must not act to reduce or terminate any rights of the county department of human or social services to recover from that obligor for any public assistance provided unless the county department of human or social services, through its delegate child support enforcement unit, has consented to the agreement, in writing, and the written consent has been incorporated into and made a part of the agreement.
4. Any parental rights with respect to custody or decision-making responsibility with respect to a child or parenting time that are granted by a court of competent jurisdiction or are subject to court review must remain unaffected by the establishment or enforcement of a child support debt or obligation by the county department of human or social services or other person pursuant to the provisions of this article 14; and the establishment or enforcement of any such child support debt or obligation must also remain unaffected by such parental rights with respect to custody or decision-making responsibility with respect to a child or parenting time.
5. No child support debt under this section shall be created in the case of, or at any time collected from, a parent who receives assistance under the Colorado works program as described in part 7 of article 2 of title 26, C.R.S., for the period such parent is receiving such assistance, unless by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
6. Creation of a child support debt pursuant to this section must not modify or extinguish any rights that the county department of human or social services has obtained or may obtain under an assignment of child support rights, including the right to recover and retain unreimbursed public assistance.
7. When a portion of a public assistance grant, paid to or for the benefit of a dependent child, includes moneys paid to provide the custodial parent or the parent with whom the child resides the majority of the time or caretaker relative with necessities including but not limited to shelter, medical care, clothing, or transportation, then those moneys are deemed to be paid to or for the benefit of the dependent child.
8. Notwithstanding rule 98 of the Colorado rules of civil procedure, venue for an action to establish child support debt is proper in any county where public assistance was or is being paid, in any county where the obligor parent resides, or in any county where the child resides.
9. A copy of the computer printout obtained from the state department of human services of the record of payments of assistance under the Colorado works program as described in part 7 of article 2 of title 26, C.R.S., made on behalf of a child whose custodian has been receiving child support enforcement services pursuant to section 26-13-106, C.R.S., shall be admissible into evidence as proof of such payments in any proceeding to establish child support debt and shall be prima facie evidence of the amount of child support debt owing on behalf of said child.

History. Source: L. 81: Entire article added, p. 906, § 1, effective June 8. L. 89: (1)(b) amended and (8) added, p. 793, § 18, effective July 1. L. 90: (9) added, p. 891, § 13, effective July 1. L. 91: (8) amended, p. 253, § 9, effective July 1. L. 93: (1) amended, p. 1560, § 9, effective June 6; (4) amended, p. 581, § 17, effective July 1. L. 94: (9) amended, p. 2646, § 110, effective July 1. L. 97: (5) and (9) amended, p. 1241, § 38, effective July 1. L. 98: (2), (3), (4), and (7) amended, p. 1401, § 51, effective February 1, 1999. L. 2007: (1)(b) amended, p. 1652, § 8, effective May 31. L. 2013: IP(1) amended,(SB 13-227), ch. 353, p. 2062, § 11, effective May 28. L. 2018: (1) to (4) and (6) amended,(SB 18-092), ch. 38, p. 401, § 17, effective August 8.

For the legislative declaration contained in the 1993 act amending subsection (4), see section 1 of chapter 165, Session Laws of Colorado 1993. For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act amending subsection (9), 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.

A determination of accrued child support debt of an absent parent when there has been no prior order of support does not violate due process or equal protection provisions of the constitution nor subject the obligor to an ex post facto law or a retrospective statute. People ex rel. J.A.E.S., 7 P.3d 1021 (Colo. App. 2000).

Guidelines must be applied to the parent's current income, rather than to the income at the time the debt arose. This does not implicate due process or equal protection, since the current income standards requires consideration of parent's current ability to repay the debt. Montezuma Dept. of Soc. Servs. v. Laner, 937 P.2d 903 (Colo. App. 1997).

Trial court's ruling on the amount of debt could not stand where court applied a previous version of the statute in effect when the debt arose. The current version of the statute should be applied to determine the amount of the debt as the bill enacting the new statute applied to orders establishing debt on or after the date the statute took effect. Montezuma Dept. of Soc. Servs. v. Laner, 937 P.2d 903 (Colo. App. 1997).

A mother's assignment to department of social services of support rights against father for period in which mother received public assistance was total and unconditional and mother had no entitlement to either support payments or any interest thereon, barring any reassignment back to her. Edis v. Edis, 742 P.2d 954 (Colo. App. 1987).

In determining child support debt based on prior payments of public assistance, the trial court must enter an order equal to or more than the amount of public assistance paid. People in Interest of A.A.V. v. J.R., 815 P.2d 997 (Colo. App. 1991).

Section requires court to enter order in favor of county department of social services against responsible parent in the exact amount of public assistance paid, regardless of parent's ability to pay. In re Ward, 856 P.2d 67 (Colo. App. 1993).

An obligor is liable to the county department of social services for an amount not exceeding the full amount of public assistance paid during the period when no order for child support existed. People ex rel. J.A.E.S., 7 P.3d 1021 (Colo. App. 2000).

Subsection (2) provides that the county department of social services shall be subrogated to the debt created by a judgment or order for payment of child support by an obligor and to the right of the dependent child or children or person having legal or physical custody of such child or children to pursue any child support action to obtain reimbursement of public assistance expended. In re Cespedes, 895 P.2d 1172 (Colo. App. 1995).

Mother was a real party in interest and entitled to seek an increase in child support since only part of the mother's right to receive child support had been assigned to the department of human services for purposes of receiving AFDC payments. In re Cespedes, 895 P.2d 1172 (Colo. App. 1995).

Subsection (2) allows a custodial parent to seek an increase in child support that includes the amount of public assistance received, provided that any such increase is subject to the state's right to subrogation. In re Cespedes, 895 P.2d 1172 (Colo. App. 1995).

Even if it is assumed that the doctrine of laches applies against the department of social services, the trial court had ample support for rejection of the defense. Social services acted as promptly as it could and pursued efforts to obtain reimbursement shortly after confirming father's address and income. Montezuma Dept. of Soc. Servs. v. Laner, 937 P.2d 903 (Colo. App. 1997).

Applied in People in Interest of A.L.B., 683 P.2d 813 (Colo. App. 1984); People in Interest of E.P.G., 732 P.2d 250 (Colo. App. 1986).