Custody

You must include all of the following information in your petition for non-parent visitation:

1. the visitation you are asking for, known as the “relief” in the petition;
2. the length and nature of your relationship with the child, including any periods you lived with the child and what care you provided;
3. any agreement you had with the child’s parent about custody, visitation, or any other contact with the child, including a copy of the agreement if it was written down;
4. any previous times you tried to get visitation or other contact with the child;
5. whether the parent is willing to allow you to have visitation or other contact with the child;
6. whether you were paid or expected to be paid for taking care of the child;
7. information required to establish the power (jurisdiction) of the court under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act;
8. the reasons that your visitation would be in the best interests of the child; and
9. why denial of your visitation would harm the child, if you are claiming to have a substantial relationship with him/her.¹

Note: There is a “rebuttable presumption” that the parent or person acting as a parent will make a decision that is in the best interest of the child if a non-parent asks for visitation. So, the judge will assume that parent have the right to deny non-parent visitation, and the non-parent has the burden of proving why it would be in the best interest of the child for the non-parent to have visitation anyway.⁵

¹ Kan. Stat. § 23-3311(b)