Custody in Kansas.
The starting point the law actually sets, what the judge has to weigh, and the deadlines that catch people out.
See a different stateKansas
Kansas has a statutory preference for joint LEGAL custody — and nothing at all for equal time. K.S.A. 23-3206: "The order shall provide one of the following legal custody arrangements, in the order of preference: (a) Joint legal custody… (b) Sole legal custody… If the court does not order joint legal custody, the court shall include on the record specific findings of fact upon which the order for sole legal custody is based." That preference is about decision-making authority only. Where the child actually lives is decided afterward and separately under K.S.A. 23-3207, which sets no preference and no equal-time rule: the court "may order a residential arrangement in which the child resides with one or both parents on a basis consistent with the best interests of the child." It is entirely ordinary in Kansas to have joint legal custody with one parent as the primary residence.
Use the state’s own words
Kansas splits the question into three named pieces: "legal custody," "residency," and "parenting time." The heading of the governing statute is literally "Factors considered in determination of legal custody, residency and parenting time of a child" (K.S.A. 23-3203). "Residency" is Kansas's word for what other states call physical custody, and "parenting time" has largely replaced "visitation" as between parents. You will also file a "temporary parenting plan" and later a "permanent parenting plan."
How Kansas decides
Decisions against where the child lives
Two separate statutes, decided in order. K.S.A. 23-3206 covers legal custody and lists the arrangements "in the order of preference": joint legal custody, under which "the parties shall have equal rights to make decisions in the best interests of the child"; then sole legal custody, which the court may order "when the court finds that it is not in the best interests of the child that both of the parties have equal rights to make decisions" — and if the court does not order joint legal custody, "the court shall include on the record specific findings of fact upon which the order for sole legal custody is based." Then, separately, K.S.A. 23-3207 says that "After making a determination of the legal custodial arrangements, the court shall determine the residency of the child," choosing among residency with one or both parents, divided residency in an exceptional case, or nonparental residency. K.S.A. 23-3211(c) defines legal custody as "the allocation of parenting responsibilities between parents… including decision making rights and responsibilities pertaining to matters of child health, education and welfare."
What the judge must weigh
K.S.A. 23-3203(a) requires the court to consider all relevant factors, including but not limited to: (1) each parent's role and involvement with the minor child before and after separation; (2) the desires of the child's parents as to custody or residency; (3) the desires of a child of sufficient age and maturity as to the child's custody or residency; (4) the age of the child; (5) the emotional and physical needs of the child; (6) the interaction and interrelationship of the child with parents, siblings and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests; (7) the child's adjustment to the child's home, school and community; (8) the willingness and ability of each parent to respect and appreciate the bond between the child and the other parent and to allow for a continuing relationship; (9) evidence of domestic abuse, including a pattern or history of physically or emotionally abusive behavior or threat thereof used by one person to gain or maintain domination and control over an intimate partner or household member, or an act of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault; (10) the ability of the parties to communicate, cooperate and manage parental duties; (11) the school activity schedule of the child; (12) the work schedule of the parties; (13) the location of the parties' residences and places of employment; (14) the location of the child's school; (15) whether a parent is subject to the Kansas offender registration act or a similar act elsewhere; (16) whether a parent has been convicted of abuse of a child; (17) whether a parent is residing with an individual subject to offender registration; and (18) whether a parent is residing with an individual convicted of abuse of a child. Under K.S.A. 23-3203(b), the court may order a parent to undergo a domestic violence offender assessment by a certified batterer intervention program and to follow its recommendations.
What the child wants
No age is set. K.S.A. 23-3203(a)(3) counts "the desires of a child of sufficient age and maturity as to the child's custody or residency." Kansas leaves "sufficient age and maturity" to the judge, and pairs it with a separate factor — the age of the child, § 23-3203(a)(4) — so age matters twice but never as a cutoff.
Where there has been violence or abuse
This is where Kansas differs sharply from most of its neighbors: there is no rebuttable presumption against custody for a parent who has committed domestic violence in K.S.A. 23-3203. Instead, domestic abuse is one factor among eighteen. K.S.A. 23-3203(a)(9) directs the court to weigh "evidence of domestic abuse, including, but not limited to: (A) A pattern or history of physically or emotionally abusive behavior or threat thereof used by one person to gain or maintain domination and control over an intimate partner or household member; or (B) an act of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault." The statute's practical teeth are in § 23-3203(b), which lets the court order the parent to undergo a domestic violence offender assessment by a certified batterer intervention program "and may order such parent to follow all recommendations made by such program." Two further factors, § 23-3203(a)(15) and (a)(17), address offender registration by a parent or by someone living with a parent.
The paperwork and the people
The parenting plan
Yes, at both stages. For temporary orders, K.S.A. 23-3212(c): "A parent seeking a temporary order in which matters of child custody, residency, or parenting time are included shall file a proposed temporary parenting plan contemporaneous with any request for issuance of such temporary orders." For the final decision, K.S.A. 23-3207 provides that "The parties shall submit to the court either an agreed parenting plan or, in the case of dispute, proposed parenting plans for the court's consideration." K.S.A. 23-3213(b) sets the minimum contents of a permanent parenting plan: designation of the legal custodial relationship; a schedule for the child's time with each parent where appropriate; a procedure for resolving disputes without court intervention; and, if either parent is a service member, provisions for custody and parenting time on military deployment. A detailed plan may also cover the residential schedule; holiday, birthday and vacation planning; weekends including school in-service days; allocation of rights and responsibilities over health, education and welfare; sharing of and access to information; relocation of parents; telephone access; transportation; and methods for resolving disputes. Under K.S.A. 23-3213(d), the court itself develops the plan if either parent asks or if the parents cannot produce one. We did not confirm a single mandatory statewide parenting-plan form; forms vary by judicial district.
Mediation
Not mandatory by statute. K.S.A. 23-3502(a): "The court or hearing officer may order mediation of any contested issue of child custody, residency, visitation, parenting time, division of property or other issues, at any time, upon motion of a party or on the court's own motion." K.S.A. 23-3501 defines mediation as a process in which a neutral mediator appointed by the court assists the parties in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement, and stresses that "An agreement reached by the parties is to be based on the decisions of the parties and not the decisions of the mediator." When appointing a mediator, the court considers any agreement of the parties on a specific mediator, conflicts of interest, and the mediator's knowledge of the Kansas judicial system, community resources, child development, clinical issues relating to children, the effects of divorce on children, and family psychology, along with their mediation training. We found no domestic-violence exemption written into these two sections.
Moving away
What you must do before you move
K.S.A. 23-3222(a): a parent entitled to legal custody, residency, or parenting time "shall give written notice to the other parent not less than 30 days prior to: (1) Changing the residence of the child; or (2) removing the child from this state for a period of time exceeding 90 days." The notice must be sent by restricted mail, return receipt requested, to the other parent's last known address. There is no mileage trigger — any change of the child's residence requires the 30-day notice. Failure to give notice "is an indirect civil contempt punishable as provided by law," and the court may assess reasonable attorney fees and other expenses against the parent who failed to give it (§ 23-3222(b)). Under § 23-3222(c), a move "may be considered a material change of circumstances which justifies modification," and the court weighs the effect of the move on the child's best interests, the effect on any party's rights, and the increased cost the move imposes on the other parent. Under § 23-3222(d), no notice is required to a parent who has been convicted of certain crimes in which the child was the victim.
Later on
Changing the order
K.S.A. 23-3218(a): the court "may change or modify any prior order of custody, residency, visitation and parenting time, when a material change of circumstances is shown." The same subsection protects against snatch-and-grab ex parte orders: "no ex parte order shall have the effect of changing residency of a minor child from the parent who has had the sole de facto residency of the child to the other parent unless there is sworn testimony to support a showing of extraordinary circumstances," and if such an interlocutory order does issue, the court must hear a motion to vacate or modify it within 15 days of a request for hearing. Parenting time alone is easier to change: K.S.A. 23-3221(a) says the court "may modify an order granting or denying parenting time whenever modification would serve the best interests of the child," and § 23-3221(b) provides that "Repeated unreasonable denial of or interference with parenting time… may be considered a material change of circumstances." There is no statutory waiting period.
If you were never married
An unmarried father needs a parentage determination before the court can make custody and parenting-time orders about him. Under the Kansas Parentage Act, K.S.A. 23-2215(a), "The judgment or order of the court determining the existence or nonexistence of the parent and child relationship is determinative for all purposes," and under § 23-2215(c), "Upon adjudging that a party is the parent of a minor child, the court shall make provisions" for the child — which is where custody, residency, and parenting time get decided in a parentage case.
The thing most Kansas parents get wrong is treating "joint legal custody" as if it meant equal time. It does not. Kansas decides legal custody first, with a written statutory preference for joint (K.S.A. 23-3206), and then decides residency completely separately under K.S.A. 23-3207 with no preference at all. Most Kansas orders end up joint legal, one primary residence. The second surprise is unpleasant but worth knowing: Kansas does not give you a rebuttable presumption against a parent who has committed domestic violence. Abuse is factor nine of eighteen. If domestic violence is part of your case, you will need to build the record deliberately rather than relying on a presumption — and ask the court to use K.S.A. 23-3203(b), which lets a judge order a batterer intervention assessment and require the parent to follow its recommendations. Finally, do not move the child, even across town, without 30 days' written notice by restricted mail. Skipping it is contempt and can cost you the other parent's attorney fees.
What we could not confirm
- We could not confirm the Kansas statute that authorizes a court-appointed custody evaluator or guardian ad litem in an ordinary custody case, or who pays for one. Ask the clerk in your judicial district — several Kansas districts handle this by local rule rather than by statute. We also could not confirm a mandatory statewide parenting-plan form; your district court almost certainly has its own, so ask for it before you draft anything from scratch. And although the two mediation statutes we read contain no domestic-violence exemption, tell the judge and the mediator if there is a history of abuse — you should not be put in a room to negotiate with someone who has hurt you.
- 1 official page we tried to read refused automated access. We did not try to get around that, so some detail above was read from a different official source — a published court opinion quoting the statute, or the court’s own forms and instructions.
Compare all fifty states
Where 50/50 really is the default, and the twenty-six states where nothing is presumed.
And the money side
How Kansas calculates child support, and the overnight number that changes it.
The rest of what we have written about Kansas. Every figure is quoted from Kansas’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.