Parents net income is primary consideration in determining support. With regard to a parent's ability to pay support for his child, net income after reasonable and justifiable business expenses should be the primary consideration. In re Crowley, 663 P.2d 267 (Colo App. 1983)
The applicable rule of support ability is the father's ability to pay weighed against the reasonable needs of his children, because society does not require a father in poor or moderate circumstances to support children on a higher scale just because the family once so lived or because the mother may desire to so live after the divorce. Kane v. Kane, 154 Colo 440, 391, P.2d 361 (1964)
In making its award of
child support, a trial court must weigh the father's ability to pay against the reasonable needs of the children. Berge v. Berge, 33 Colo App 376, 522 P.2d 752 (1974), affd, 189 Colo 103, 536 P.2d 1135 (1975)
Where the father's income, while substantial, is limited and subject to numerous demands, an order contemplating only the needs of the child and not bearing any relationship to the ability of the father to pay, and that could possibly become confiscatory of all the father's available resources, is not valid. Van Orman v Van Orman, 30 Colo App. 177, 492 P.2d 81 (1971)