How to modify child custody and parenting time in Kansas

Sources last checked 7 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. This page rests on the text of Kansas Statutes Annotated sections 23-3218 (modification), 23-3203 (factors), 23-3207 (residential arrangements), 23-3212 (temporary orders) and 23-3222 (change of residence), as published by the Kansas Office of the Revisor of Statutes on ksrevisor.gov. Kansas says “residency” for where the child lives and “parenting time” for the schedule. Read what we could not confirm below.

Kansas divorce kitChild custody in KansasModifying child support and spousal support in KansasAfter your divorce: changing a support or custody order

The short version

Under K.S.A. 23-3218(a), a Kansas court may change or modify any prior order of custody, residency, visitation and parenting time “when a material change of circumstances is shown”. The residential arrangement the court picks must be one it finds to be “in the best interest of the child” (23-3207), and the court weighs the eighteen listed factors in 23-3203. A move can itself count: 23-3222(c) says a change of residence or removal of a child “may be considered a material change of circumstances”. For changing child support or spousal support instead, see modifying child support and spousal support in Kansas.

The modification test

  • What the court can change, 23-3218(a). Any prior order of custody, residency, visitation and parenting time, subject to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which decides which state’s court has jurisdiction.
  • The threshold. A “material change of circumstances” must be shown. The statute does not define the phrase. The same section keeps the best-interest factors in play because the court must still make a residency order that serves the child.
  • Ex parte limits. No ex parte order can move a child’s residency from the parent with sole de facto residency to the other parent unless sworn testimony supports “extraordinary circumstances”. If an interlocutory order is issued ex parte, the court must hear a motion to vacate or modify it within 15 days of a party’s request for a hearing.
  • Examinations, 23-3218(b). The court may order physical or mental examinations of the parties if requested under K.S.A. 60-235.

How the court decides: best interests

  • The standard, 23-3207. After deciding legal custody, the court decides residency from the listed options, and must find the arrangement to be in the child’s best interest. The parties submit either an agreed parenting plan or, if they disagree, proposed parenting plans.
  • Residency options. The child may live with one or both parents on a basis consistent with the child’s best interests. In an exceptional case the court may divide residency so that one or more children live with each parent. Temporary nonparental residency is available only in the child-in-need-of-care situations the statute describes.
  • The factors, 23-3203(a). The court considers “all relevant factors”, including: (1) each parent’s role and involvement before and after separation; (2) the parents’ wishes; (3) the wishes of a child of sufficient age and maturity; (4) the child’s age; (5) the child’s emotional and physical needs; (6) the child’s interaction with parents, siblings and others who may significantly affect the child; (7) the child’s adjustment to home, school and community; (8) each parent’s willingness to respect the child’s bond with the other parent; (9) evidence of domestic abuse, including stalking or sexual assault; (10) the parties’ ability to communicate, cooperate and manage parental duties; (11) the child’s school activity schedule; (12) the parties’ work schedules; (13) the location of the parties’ residences and workplaces; (14) the location of the child’s school; (15) to (18) offender-registry status, child-abuse convictions, and whether a parent lives with someone in either category.
  • Abuse assessment, 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.

Moving or changing the child’s residence

  • Notice, 23-3222(a). A parent entitled to legal custody, residency or parenting time must give the other parent written notice at least 30 days before changing the child’s residence or taking the child out of state for more than 90 days. The notice goes by restricted mail, return receipt requested, to the other parent’s last known address.
  • Consequences, 23-3222(b). Failing to give notice is “indirect civil contempt”, and the court may charge the parent attorney fees and other expenses the other parent incurred.
  • Effect on custody, 23-3222(c). The move may be a material change of circumstances. In deciding a motion based on it, the court considers all appropriate factors, including the effect on the child’s best interests, the effect on the other party’s rights, and the added cost to a party exercising those rights.
  • Exception, 23-3222(d). No notice is required where the other parent was convicted of specified crimes in which the child was the victim.

Temporary changes while a motion is pending

  • Temporary parenting plan, 23-3212. A parent seeking a temporary order that touches custody, residency or parenting time must file a proposed temporary parenting plan with the request. The other parent who disputes it must file and serve a responsive plan.
  • Amending it. A parent may move to amend a temporary parenting plan, and the court may do so “if the amendment is in the best interest of the child”.

What we could not confirm

  • Meaning of material change. The statute does not define the phrase. We read no Kansas appellate decision beyond the one-line annotations on the Revisor’s pages, so we cannot say how courts apply it or whether a change must be shown before best interests are reached.
  • Statute currency. We read the Revisor’s pages on 7 November 2026. Sections 23-3218 and 23-3222 show amendment histories that end in 2011 and 2015, and 23-3203 in 2017. We did not compare them with session laws.
  • Forms, fees and courts. We did not read Kansas Judicial Branch forms, local rules, filing fees or fee waivers, and we did not confirm which district court division hears a custody change. Ask the clerk of the court that entered your order.
  • Related law we skipped. We did not read the legal custody provisions (23-3206), the parenting-plan sections, mediation, military-parent provisions or the UCCJEA text.

Spot something out of date? See our corrections or email hello@thecusp.app.

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