It might be a long shot, but winning the lottery has the chance of setting you up for life. Even if you win in the thousands of dollars, that is still a sizable amount of money. The question though is does that amount of money count against you when considering child support?
It depends on your situation and sometimes it depends on the timing. In the event you do have lottery winnings to consider, it is important to understand your options and requirements.
Owing child support
If you owe back payments of child support, the state of Colorado considers you “in arrears.” The state may garnish your wages to pay down these child support arrearages. In that same way, according to Colorado statutes, the state department may use your lottery winnings to offset child support debt.
Changing your financial situation
Parents may appeal to change child support payments if one spouse sees an uptick or downtick in their income. Since the state considers your lottery winnings as a source of income, it may affect a child support agreement. If you pay child support, an appeal may see you paying a certain percentage of your winnings or the monthly amount increasing. If you receive child support, the courts may deem those monthly payments no longer necessary.
The tricky part of this is that the lottery is not a consistent source of income and so may not count depending on when you received them in relation to tax years and other considerations.
If you or your spouse has won the lottery, it may be worth learning more about the subject and leaning on your resources to determine what the best option is for your unique situation.