Divorce in Kansas

Residency Requirements and Grounds for Divorce

Residency Requirements and Grounds for Divorce

Either you or your spouse must be a resident of Kansas for at least 60 days immediately preceding the filing of a petition for divorce. Any person who has been a resident of or stationed at a US post or military reservation within the state for 60 days immediately preceding the filing for divorce may file in any county adjacent to the post or reservation.

There are three grounds upon which to obtain a divorce in Kansas:

Incompatibility
Failure to perform a material marital duty or obligation
Incompatibility due to mental illness or mental incapacity of one or both spouses

The legal divorce process begins when one spouse files the papers for dissolution of marriage in a county where either of the spouses resides. Unless the court issues an order declaring the existence of an emergency, no decree of divorce may issue until 60 days from the filing date.

Dividing the Property

In Kansas, assets and debts acquired during your marriage - called "marital property" - will be divided "equitably" when you divorce. In deciding how to divide the property owned by divorcing couples, judges will consider a number of factors, including:

The age of the spouses
The length of the marriage
Property owned by the spouses
The spouses' present and future earning capacities
The time, source and manner of acquisition of the property
Family ties and obligations
The allowance or lack of maintenance
Dissipation of assets
The tax consequences
Any other factors that the court considers necessary to make a fair division of property

Separate property is retained by the owning spouse. Separate property includes the following:

Assets you had before you married if you kept that property separated from property acquired during the marriage
The income produced by a separate property investment as long as it hasn't been "commingled" - mixed together with marital property
Property you inherit from your family during your marriage if it was willed exclusively to you and you did not commingle it with marital property during the marriage

It is important to collect all the information you can about all your property, including when you purchased it, approximately how much it is worth and details such as account numbers, serial numbers and so forth. Collecting this information before you see a Kansas divorce lawyer can save you a lot of time and money.

Alimony

A court can order alimony to either party in Kansas. Temporary alimony may be ordered while a divorce action is pending. Alimony may be periodic or a lump sum. The award may be in any amount that the court finds fair and equitable. The court may not award alimony for a period of time in excess of 121 months.

In determining the amount and duration of an alimony award, the court considers all relevant facts including:

Respective ages of the spouses
Assets of each spouse
Potential earnings of each spouse
Cause of separation
The length of the marriage
Prior standard of living

Child Custody and Visitation

In Kansas, the court will determine child custody based on the best interests of the child. If the parents entered into a parenting plan, it is presumed that the agreement is in the best interests of the child. In determining the issue of child custody and parenting time, the court considers all relevant parenting factors, which may include the following:

The length of time that the child has been under the actual care and control of any person other than a parent and the relevant circumstances
The desires of the child's parents as to custody
The desire of the child as to the child's custody
The interaction and interrelationship of the child with parents, siblings and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests
The child's adjustment to the child's home, school and community
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 between the child and the other parent
Evidence of spousal abuse

The court may order joint or sole legal custody and may set up residency plans that provide for sole or joint physical custody based upon the best interests of the child. Visitation rights are typically awarded to the noncustodial parent.

Child Support

In Kansas, the court will order either or both parents to pay a reasonable amount necessary for the support of a child of the marriage. The Kansas child support guidelines establish a presumptive correct amount of child support. A deviation from the guidelines requires a finding by the court that the amount of child support established by the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate. The noncustodial parent may expect to pay child support until the child is 18 years old or a high school graduate.

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