# Draft Child Support Worksheet > Completing a state child support guideline worksheet requires checking income figures against source financial records rather than relying solely on self-reported statements, applying income imputation where a parent is voluntarily underemployed, correcting improper deductions from rental income, and averaging variable compensation over an appropriate multi-year period. - Skill: `finchipaiorg/draft-child-support-worksheet` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add finchipaiorg/draft-child-support-worksheet` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/finchipaiorg/draft-child-support-worksheet/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: FinchipAIOrg (https://skillmd.com/u/finchipaiorg) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/finchipaiorg/draft-child-support-worksheet --- # Skill: Draft Completed Colorado Child Support Guideline Worksheet (Form JDF 1820) ## 1. Subject-matter triage - Treat the worksheet as the primary deliverable and the memo as secondary. - Identify the governing forum, the child support guideline form version, the relevant parenting schedule, and all financial source documents before calculating. - If the source set includes more than one parent, more than one income period, or more than one compensation type, enumerate each parent, period, and income stream before analysis. - Separate baseline figures from corrected figures so the memo can explain what changed and why. ## 2. Failure modes the skill is correcting - Using self-reported income without reconciling tax returns, pay records, K-1s, bank records, or other source documents. - Missing discrepancies between stated income and documentary evidence, or failing to explain how each discrepancy affects the worksheet. - Accepting rental income at face value without identifying non-deductible or support-irrelevant expense treatment. - Ignoring potential income imputation when a parent appears voluntarily underemployed, or failing to anchor the analysis in the parent’s work history and market earning capacity. - Using an atypical single year of bonus, equity, or other variable compensation instead of a representative averaging period. - Misstating work-related childcare costs when provider invoices or contracts differ from party statements. - Applying parenting time adjustments without checking the overnight schedule actually used by the form. - Conflating advisory conclusions with arithmetic: the memo must explain legal treatment and downstream impact, not just restate numbers. ## 3. Legal frameworks / domain conventions that apply - Colorado child support is governed by the income-shares framework in the Colorado Child Support Guidelines, including the statutes and form instructions applicable to the forum, commonly including C.R.S. § 14-10-115 and the current JDF 1820 instructions. - Gross income for support purposes is broader than taxable income and may include wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, recurring equity compensation, rental income, self-employment income, pass-through income, and other recurring receipts recognized by the guideline. - Rental income should be analyzed on a support basis, not merely a tax basis; ordinary and necessary expenses matter, but non-cash or otherwise non-support-relevant deductions require scrutiny. - Voluntary underemployment requires an objective analysis of potential earning capacity using education, history, qualifications, prior earnings, and prevailing wage evidence; if imputation is warranted, the basis must be stated clearly. - Variable compensation should be treated consistently with its recurring character; averaging over a representative period is generally more reliable than a single-year snapshot. - Childcare costs included in the worksheet must be work-related and documented; source-provider records control when they conflict with a party’s estimate. - Parenting time adjustments depend on the actual overnight allocation under the schedule, so the worksheet must reflect the operative schedule rather than a shorthand summary. - If related-party benefits, below-market services, or similar economic advantages appear in the source record, analyze whether they function as income or offset support calculations under the governing guideline and forum practice. - Every legal conclusion in the memo should identify the rule or authority supporting it, not merely assert the result. ## 4. Analytical scaffolds 1. Build a source-document inventory. - List each parent, each income source, each tax year or pay period used, each childcare document, and the parenting schedule. - If the source set is limited to one period or one parent for a particular issue, say so expressly and explain why. 2. Reconcile income by category. - Start with the party’s stated figures. - Compare them against source records. - Identify each discrepancy, categorize it by income type, and state whether the worksheet should use the stated figure, a corrected figure, or an imputed figure. 3. Recalculate rental and self-employment income. - Reconstruct gross receipts and ordinary operating expenses. - Identify any deductions that do not reduce support income. - State the corrected net figure and the reason each adjustment is made. 4. Assess imputation where underemployment is possible. - Identify current role, work history, education, credentials, prior pay, and market wage evidence. - Decide whether the underemployment appears voluntary under the governing standard. - If imputation is appropriate, specify the support income figure and the basis for it. 5. Average variable compensation where appropriate. - Identify bonuses, incentive pay, commissions, equity awards, or other non-base compensation. - Determine the appropriate representative period from the source set. - Use the averaged amount if that better captures recurring earning capacity. 6. Verify childcare and parenting-time inputs. - Compare claimed childcare costs against provider records or invoices. - Confirm the overnight schedule and the resulting parenting-time adjustment inputs. - Flag any inconsistency between the schedule used on the worksheet and the schedule reflected in the source documents. 7. Produce two calculation views. - Baseline worksheet: use the parties’ stated or initially reported figures. - Corrected worksheet: incorporate all reconciliations, averages, imputed income determinations, and document-based childcare or parenting-time adjustments. - Preserve the same form structure so the changes are auditable. 8. Draft the memo issue by issue. - For each issue, state the discrepancy or legal question, the governing rule or guideline, the source documents reviewed, the recommended treatment, and the effect on the worksheet. - Tie each issue to the relevant document evidence and the practical consequence for the support calculation. - Include a closing recommendations section that translates the issues into action items for the preparer or reviewing attorney. ## 5. Vertical / structural / temporal relationships - Track how changes to one input flow through the worksheet: income changes affect combined income, proportional shares, basic obligation, and any downstream adjustments. - Preserve the sequence of time-sensitive data; do not mix annual, monthly, and periodic compensation without converting them consistently. - If multiple years or multiple periods are in the record, analyze them in chronological order and explain any trend, anomaly, or representative averaging choice. - Where one document supersedes another, use the later or more specific document only if it actually resolves the discrepancy; otherwise note the conflict in the memo. - If the parenting schedule and the financial documents are inconsistent about household arrangements, flag the inconsistency rather than assuming a correction. ## 6. Output structure conventions - Draft the worksheet as a completed Colorado guideline form with the operative case-caption fields and the income/adjustment entries needed to make the calculation intelligible. - Include both baseline and corrected calculations if the record supports a before-and-after comparison. - Draft the issues memorandum as a numbered list of distinct issues with a severity label on each entry using a consistent ordinal scale defined once at the start. - For each memo issue, include: the issue, controlling authority or guideline, the source documents relied on, the recommended treatment, and the impact on the support result. - End the memorandum with a concise Recommended Actions section that states what should be changed, who should do it, and when it should be done relative to filing or finalizing the worksheet. - Deliver the worksheet first and the memo second; both must be complete and non-empty.