In re the Marriage of Johnson, 2014 COA 145

Parties divorced in 1983; father was ordered to pay $400/month child support for two children.
Mother sought judgment in 2012 for $893,285 in arrearages and interest; father asserted a 20‑year statute of limitations limited recovery to arrears after Sept. 1992.
Magistrate initially entered judgment for the full amount; district court vacated and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on arrearages subject to the 20‑year limit.
After hearing, magistrate found $23,260 in arrearages for Sept. 1992–July 1997 and awarded statutory interest, yielding a ~$155,000 judgment; district court adopted the magistrate’s order.
On appeal, the court held father’s child‑support obligation terminated when the parties’ last child turned nineteen (July 17, 1995), reversed the award of arrearages after that date, and remanded to calculate interest on the conceded $4,800 arrearage for July 1994–July 1996.

Issue	Mother’s Argument	Father’s Argument	Held
Whether father’s support obligation terminated automatically when the last child turned 19	Statute (as amended) terminates support for last/only child at 19 without motion for pre‑1997 orders	Support continued past 19; magistrate relied on cases requiring motion to modify	Held support terminated when last child turned 19; arrearages after that date vacated
Whether laches can bar recovery of statutory interest on past due child support	Laches does not bar recovery of arrears or impliedly bar statutory interest; only creditor may waive interest	Laches or delay should bar collection of interest	Held laches cannot be used to bar interest merely by delay; waiver of interest must be unequivocal
Whether magistrate’s arrearages calculation (Sept 1992–July 1997) was supported by record	Mother relied on magistrate’s finding	Father argued calculation was unsupported and clearly erroneous	Court did not decide because termination at 19 mooted arrearages after July 1995; remanded to recalc interest on agreed $4,800
Proper remedy on remand	N/A	N/A	Court instructed entry of judgment for mother on $4,800 arrears plus statutory interest under §14‑14‑106 compounded monthly

Koltay v. Koltay, 667 P.2d 1374 (Colo. 1983) (pre‑1991 rule: emancipation presumptively at 21)
In re Parental Responsibilities Concerning B.J., 242 P.3d 1128 (Colo. 2010) (standards for de novo review of statutory interpretation)
In re Marriage of Robb, 934 P.2d 927 (Colo. App. 1997) (support obligation ends when child emancipates)
In re Marriage of Dion, 970 P.2d 968 (Colo. App. 1997) (distinguishable; addressed orders that expressly fixed support to age 21 and motion‑to‑modify requirement)
Hauck v. Schuck, 353 P.2d 79 (Colo. 1960) (child support arrearages are not subject to laches)
In re Marriage of Meisner, 807 P.2d 1205 (Colo. App. 1990) (laches inapplicable to recovery of past due child support)
Hickerson v. Vessels, 316 P.3d 620 (Colo. 2014) (laches can apply to some legal claims filed within statutory period; did not overrule Hauck)
In re Marriage of Schutte, 721 P.2d 160 (Colo. App. 1986) (trial court lacks discretion to deny statutory interest on arrearages)