Filing Two Modifications at Once in Colorado

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Your ex remarried in December. Under C.R.S. § 14-10-122(2)(a)(III), the maintenance you’ve been paying terminated on the wedding date as a matter of law — but you still need a court order documenting it. And here’s the part that catches people: once maintenance drops out of the picture, the child support math changes too, because maintenance payments are an adjustment inside the support calculation. One life event, two modifications.

Colorado’s court system treats those as two separate filings. Two form packets, two filing fees, two motions moving through the same courthouse. This post covers the logistics of filing them — what each packet contains, what it costs, and the tradeoffs between filing together versus one at a time.

The Two Scenarios Where Modifications Travel in Pairs

The pairing shows up in two common situations.

Maintenance ends, so child support gets recalculated. When maintenance is paid, the worksheet deducts it from the payor’s income and adds it to the recipient’s income before calculating support. Remove the maintenance — by remarriage, cohabitation ruling, or term expiration — and both parents’ adjusted incomes shift at once, which moves their proportional shares of the child support obligation. Terminating maintenance and recalculating child support are separate proceedings even though one causes the other.

Parenting time changes, so child support gets recalculated. A new schedule changes each parent’s overnight count, and overnights feed the Parenting Time Table on the unified Support Worksheet. Modifying parenting time has its own form set; the support recalculation can ride along via a checkbox on JDF 1406 or stand as its own filing.

This article uses the maintenance scenario for the worked example, but the filing logistics are the same shape either way.

Two Packets, Two Fees — and No Combined Instructions Anywhere

Here’s the honest friction: there is no “dual modification” packet on coloradojudicial.gov. The self-help site treats child support and maintenance as entirely separate categories, each with its own instruction document — JDF 1403i for child support, JDF 1399 for maintenance. Neither document mentions the other. Neither tells you how to coordinate the two at the clerk’s window. You assemble both packets yourself and figure out the sequencing on your own.

So what does “both packets” actually mean? Take a Boulder County filer whose ex remarried on December 15, 2025. She pays $2,100/month in maintenance and $650/month in child support for one child.

The maintenance packet: JDF 1401 (Motion/Stipulation Re: Maintenance — a combined form where you select the sections that apply) plus JDF 1402 (the proposed Order), with the marriage certificate attached as the supporting exhibit for a remarriage termination.

The child support packet: JDF 1403 if the parents don’t agree on the new number, or JDF 1404 if they do — plus JDF 1111, the Sworn Financial Statement, JDF 1104 (Certificate of Compliance), and the completed Support Worksheet (JDF 1821, R: March 2026).

Each motion carries its own $105 filing fee under C.R.S. § 13-32-101(2). Filed together in the 20th Judicial District, that’s $210, plus $12 per filing to e-file through CCE — $234 before service costs. The full cost picture, including fee waivers, is covered separately.

Why the Child Support Number Actually Moves

The maintenance adjustment is not a small variable. Stay with the Boulder County example: the payor grosses $7,667/month, the recipient about $4,333/month.

While maintenance is flowing, the worksheet works from adjusted figures — the payor at $5,567 ($7,667 minus $2,100) and the recipient at $6,433 ($4,333 plus $2,100). On those numbers, the recipient carries the larger share of the combined income. When the maintenance adjustment disappears, the worksheet reverts to $7,667 and $4,333, and the proportional shares flip. In this scenario, that flip pushes child support from $650/month to somewhere around $900–950/month.

A $250–300/month swing from a single adjustment. That’s not unusual — and it comfortably clears the 10% modification threshold under C.R.S. § 14-10-122(1)(a), which applies to the change in the support amount itself. We walk through the worksheet mechanics of the maintenance adjustment in a separate post; the point here is that the maintenance adjustment moves real dollars. The numbers genuinely change.

One caution on timing. Maintenance termination by remarriage is automatic under the statute, but child support recalculation is not — the existing support order stays in force at the old amount until a modification is filed and granted, and modifications generally reach back only to the filing date.

Together or Separately: the Factual Tradeoffs

Whether to file both modifications at once or stagger them is a judgment call each filer makes. Here’s what’s factually different about each approach:

	Filing together	Filing separately
Disclosures	One round of JDF 1111 financial disclosures serves both matters	Potentially two rounds — if income or assets change between filings, the second filing needs current figures
Hearings	The court may consolidate related motions into a single hearing (judge’s discretion)	Each motion proceeds on its own track
Sequencing	The maintenance ruling and the recalculated support number resolve in the same timeframe	The child support filing can wait until the maintenance order is entered, so the worksheet reflects a settled fact rather than a pending motion
Paperwork load	Everything at once — a heavier lift up front	Simpler at each step, stretched over more months
Fees	$210 either way	$210 either way — no discount for bundling, no penalty for splitting

Some people find that when two modifications interact — where the outcome of one changes the inputs of the other — the complexity is a reason to have an attorney look at the situation before filing. Others handle both packets themselves. Colorado’s judicial districts also staff free Sherlock family court facilitators who can answer procedural questions for self-represented parties.

Common Questions About Dual Filings

Is there one form that modifies both maintenance and child support?

No. JDF 1401 handles maintenance; JDF 1403 or JDF 1404 handles child support. They’re separate motions filed under the same case number, each with its own supporting documents and its own $105 fee.

If maintenance ends automatically at remarriage, doesn’t child support update automatically too?

No — and this trips people up. The remarriage termination is automatic by statute (unless the decree says otherwise), but no court recalculates child support on its own. The old support amount remains the enforceable order until someone files and a judge signs a new one. The step-by-step modification process is the same as any other child support change.

Will both motions get one hearing?

Maybe. Courts can consolidate related modifications into a single hearing, and it’s a sensible use of everyone’s time — but it’s the judge’s call, not something you can require. If both parents agree on both changes, the stipulation paths (JDF 1401’s stipulation sections; JDF 1404 for support) are reviewed by the court. That review often takes about 2–4 weeks, but timing depends on the district and its docket, and the court may set a hearing.

Does each filing need its own Sworn Financial Statement?

When filed together, one current JDF 1111 from each parent generally supports both matters. Filed months apart, the later filing needs disclosures that are current as of that filing — which can mean doing the 12-page form twice.

The Short Version

Two related modifications means two packets, two $105 fees, and zero official guidance on coordinating them — the court system doesn’t publish a combined instruction set. The maintenance adjustment inside the child support worksheet is why the pairing exists at all: change one order and the other’s math shifts underneath it. And nothing recalculates automatically; each change becomes real only when it’s filed, served, and signed.

The current forms for both filing types are at coloradojudicial.gov/self-help-forms. The governing modification statute is C.R.S. § 14-10-122.