Know the Laws: Kansas
UPDATED November 21, 2008
This section provides information about custody, residency, and parenting time in Kansas.
Definitions
back to topWhat is custody?
In Kansas, custody involves the right to make decisions in the best interests of the child. It generally includes making decisions on matters of child health, education and welfare.* Custody should not be confused with residency, which involves the physical placement of the child (the actual address of the child). Custody and residency are two separate things.
In Kansas, there are two types of custody:
- Joint legal custody and
- Sole legal custody.
If you are granted joint legal custody of your child, both parents have the right to make the following types of decisions:
- where your child goes to school
- whether your child gets a particular type of medical care
- what kind of religious training your child receives.
Joint legal custody is preferred in Kansas. If a court decides to grant sole legal custody, it must specifically say in the court record why this decision was made and why it is in the best interests of the child.**
If you are granted sole legal custody, you alone can make these decisions, but you may not keep information regarding the child from the other parent, unless a judge tells you that you can do so.
After legal custody is decided, the court will decide the residency of the child. See What is residency and who can get it? for more information.
A judge may also give you parenting time. Parenting time is when you have the legal right to visit your child. Go to What is parenting time? for more information.
* K.S.A. § 60-1623(c)
** K.S.A. § 60-1610(a)(4)
back to topWhat is residency and who can get it?
Residency is a legal order establishing who your child will live with. A judge may order that your child live with you full-time or part-time. In an exceptional case, the court may order "divided residency," which is when one or more children reside with each parent and have parenting time with the other.
If the judge decides that neither parent is fit to have residency and that the child is likely to be harmed if s/he is not immediately removed from the home, temporary residency can be given to:
- The child’s grandparent, aunt, uncle, or adult sibling, or
- Another person or agency.
Kansas does not have a preference about whether a child will live with one or both parents. A judge will make this decision based on the best interests of the child and on whether the parents can agree on a parenting plan. During the time that your child lives with you, you are responsible for his/her physical care and supervision.
* K.S.A. § 60-1610(a)(5)
back to topWhat is a parenting plan?
A parenting plan is a written agreement between you and the child’s other parent that always lays out the following three things:
- Who has legal custody (the right to make decisions affecting the child’s life);
- Who has residency (who the child will live with); and
- Who has parenting time (the right to visit the child) and when it will happen.
Even if you cannot agree on a parenting plan with the other parent, you will still be asked to suggest your own parenting plan.
There are two type of parenting plans: temporary and permanent. A temporary parenting plan will be created (by you or the judge) for the period of time between when you file for custody and get your final custody order. After you write up a temporary parenting plan, you must file it with the court and give a copy to the other parent or the other parent’s attorney.
If your child’s other parent files a temporary parenting plan with the court and you do not agree with it, you can file a response. In your response, you will write up your own temporary parenting plan and have a copy delivered to the other parent or his/her attorney. Courts are required by law to give parents information about how to prepare a parenting plan.* The judge will most likely decide on a temporary parenting plan based on what is in the best interests of your child.
For more information on how to file a temporary parenting plan, or respond to a plan that the other parent filed, we recommend contacting a lawyer for advice. See our Finding a Lawyer page for legal help in your area.
A permanent parenting plan is similar to a temporary parenting plan in many ways. If you and the other parent agree, you can file the permanent parenting plan together and a judge will assume that it is in the best interest of your child. If the judge rejects an agreed parenting plan proposed by the parents, the judge must give the reasons why it was rejected.**
If both parents disagree on a plan or if due to domestic violence, you are unable to make decisions together, you can file two separate plans with the court. When you file two separate plans, you will always need to have a copy of your plan delivered to the other’s parent or to his/her attorney. A judge will take these two plans into account when deciding on a final parenting plan.
We recommend contacting a lawyer about what information you should include in a permanent parenting plan. Please see Finding a Lawyer for legal help in your area.
* K.S.A § 60-1626(a)(1)
** K.S.A. § 60-1610(a)(3)(A)
back to topWhat is parenting time?
Parenting time is the right to visit your child. Even if you are not granted legal custody or residency, you may still get parenting time. This means that you would still be able to visit your child even if your child does not live with you or you are not granted the right to make decisions affecting your child’s life. The times, dates and conditions of your parenting time will be included in your parenting plan.*
*K.S.A. § 60-1625