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www.alllaw.com/calculators/childsupport/kansas/default.asp
www.divorcehq.com/calculators/ks_supportcalc.shtml
Child
support may be agreed upon between the parents and it is not required
that the Kansas guidelines be used in that event.
If that is the case for
you, click on
Client Information Form
and start your divorce.
If you wish, we will
calculate child support based on the Kansas guidelines and the
particular facts in your case, as part of our service for your
uncontested divorce. We would need the following information:
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Monthly
gross income of each parent.
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Ages of
children of the parties and whether either parent has other children
they are supporting.
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Health
insurance costs for both family and single health insurance coverage and
whether other individuals are covered by the policy.
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Child care
costs (which must be actual, reasonable, and necessary costs incurred
for employment, the search for employment, or the preparation for
employment).
· The guidelines indicate that the income tax dependency
exemptions for the children should be shared or alternated between the
parties. If you have agreed to a different arrangement, an adjustment
for this can be calculated.
For
more detailed information about Kansas child support law, see the
following:
A court order setting
child support remains in effect until either parent or the child dies,
the child is adopted, the child moves out of the parent's residence, the
parents move in together, a new child support order is entered by the
courts, or the child reaches 18 unless that child is still attending
high school and then until the end of the school year in session when
the child reached 18 as long as the child is attending high school.
The child support
guidelines consider the age of the children in three brackets: birth to
age 5; 6 to11; and 12 to 18. Generally, as a child moves into the next
age bracket, child support may be increased, depending on other factors
involved such as child care or health insurance costs.
If more than one minor
child is receiving child support and the support obligation ends for one
of the children, then the child support is reduced to the ratio of
children still eligible to receive child support. As an example, if the
existing child support order is set at $750.00 per month for three
children and the oldest child turns 18 and is no longer in school, the
child support for the remaining two children is automatically reduced to
$500.00 per month.
However, the residential
parent could then go to court and request that child support for the two
remaining children be recalculated based on the current guidelines and
ages of the children. Therefore, in general, the residential parent
should have child support reviewed whenever any of the children move
into an older age bracket or child support terminates for a child.
Both parents' gross
income (before taxes or other deductions) is used in setting child
support but the courts generally ignore the income of step-parents.
Gross monthly income is used because it is easy to determine and the
guidelines consider the effects of taxes. If a parent is paid weekly,
bi-weekly, or twice a month, that figure is converted to a monthly
figure. Overtime and bonuses can be considered as income but
historically the courts have not considered income from a second job.
Other income besides
wages is considered as long as it is received on a regular basis. For
example, dividends and interest on savings accounts are considered
income. Unemployment payments, workers' compensation, and social
security disability payments are considered income while public
assistance is not income.
Self-employment and
rental income are also considered income in setting child support.
However, reasonable business expenses are deducted from this source of
income and often it is very difficult to determine the actual income and
expenses in these circumstances. There are also extra taxes that
self-employed workers pay.
The income of the
parents can also be adjusted by the amount of child or spousal support
either parent pays or receives in this or other cases. Cost of living
adjustments also can be made on a state by state basis.
In addition, income may
be imputed or credited to a parent under three circumstances:
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A
parent is assumed to be able to earn the federal minimum wage and to
work forty hours a week unless there are special circumstances such as
health problems.
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A parent
who is deliberately unemployed or underemployed should have this
potential income attributed to him or her if there are appropriate
employment opportunities available.
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A parent
who receives significant in-kind payments that reduce personal living
expenses as a result of employment such as a company car or free housing
should have this reimbursement added to their income.
The parents' combined
income is based on all of these factors and the guidelines have tables
and calculations which determine the total child support based on this
combined income. The guidelines also consider whether the payer of
child support has other minor children living with him or her under some
circumstances.
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The actual out-of-pocket
expenses for health and dental insurance coverage paid by either parent
are also considered in the determination of child support. If this
insurance is provided to a parent by his or her employer at no
out-of-pocket expense, then there is no expense to be claimed in the
child support calculation. The courts usually consider only the
difference between family and single coverage and distributes the cost
of this difference over the number of people covered if there are other
children or adults covered other than the parents and their children.
Any expenses not covered by insurance are usually divided on the ratio
of the parents' gross income.
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Child care costs must be
actual, reasonable, and necessary costs incurred for employment, the
search for employment, or the preparation for employment. Usually an
average monthly cost for the entire year is used so that summer child
care costs are considered but spread out through the entire year.
The guidelines reduce
child care costs based on federal child care credits. This tax credit is
separate from the federal and state dependency exemption and the federal
child tax credit and is reported on IRS Form 2441. Only the parent
having physical custody and actually paying the child care costs can
deduct a portion of these payments for tax purposes. It is possible that
the courts could reduce the adjustment for child care costs
substantially if the child care provider does not report this income and
the parent does not claim the credit.
There are seven child
support adjustments:
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Long
distance visitation costs may apply when the parents are separated by a
substantial distance. The costs must be substantial, reasonable, and
directly associated with parenting times or communication. The courts
can also order the parent moving to bear more of the costs or require a
sharing of these costs or the actual transportation.
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The
time spent with the non-residential parent can lead to a second
adjustment. Child support is usually reduced when a child spends more
than 35% of the child's time with the non-residential parent or is with
the non-residential parent for more than 14 days during any time period.
Ordinarily child support is reduced by half during extended summer
parenting times because the residential parent still has some fixed
household expenses even if the child doesn't live there full-time. The
parent having summer parenting times will be responsible for paying any
child care costs during this parenting time.
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The
guidelines also take into account situations where both parents have
physical custody of one or more of the children or where one or more of
the children resides with each parent on an equal basis. When a child
resides with a third party such as a relative, the courts may divide the
child support between the parents and have it paid to the third party.
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The
guidelines indicate that the income tax dependency exemption should be
alternated. The residential parent must sign IRS Form 8332 so the other
parent can claim the child as a dependency exemption. The courts can
also consider the child tax credit in adjusting child support. The
parents could also have different tax filing statuses such as single,
married, or head of household and once again the courts can consider
these factors in adjusting child support.
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The
special needs of a child such as out of the ordinary expenses for health
problems, orthodontic care, special education, or special therapy may be
divided based on the proportionate income of the parents. If such a
division is not ordered, then the parent incurring the expenses must pay
them.
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While
Kansas law does not require child support past age 18 or high school
graduation (if the child turns 18 while attending high school), the
parents can agree in writing signed by both parents to extend the child
support past these limits. This agreement is legally binding as a
contract and can be enforced in court but the child support can be
adjusted for these circumstances. If a child has failed to progress
through the school system at the normal pace so he or she is still in
high school at the time of the automatic reduction of child support by
statute and both parents were aware of this delay in schooling, child
support could be extended for one more year but this extension is not
automatic.
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The
courts can consider the overall financial conditions of the parents.
This adjustment could apply if one parent is paying off most of the
marital debts. Mere financial hardship is not usually enough for this
adjustment. However, there are occasions where the courts may reduce
current child support to allow the payor to catch up on past-due
support.
The last adjustment
involves the role of the Court Trustee. By Kansas law, all child support
payments must be made through the Kansas Payment Center with the Court
Trustee monitoring these obligations. It is possible to remove the Court
Trustee from a child support case but the process requires a special
hearing. Furthermore, Kansas law usually requires that the child support
be taken out of the non-custodial parent's wages through an income
withholding order, however, the parties can agree that no income
withholding order is necessary. The Court Trustee takes a percentage out
of the child support as an enforcement fee (currently 2.5% for Sedgwick
County cases) but 1/2 of this fee is usually added to the child support
obligation itself as an adjustment.
It is important that
all child support payments are made through the court system so the
payments can be recorded for the protection of both parents. It is wrong
to deduct purchases such as clothes or medical expenses from child
support payments unless it is allowed by a court order. While the
parents can reach agreements regarding child support, it is important
that these agreements are put in writing, signed by the parents,
approved by the courts, and filed with the clerk so that the agreement
is public record. Failure to do so can result in the courts ignoring
these agreements. Under Kansas law, failure to pay child support through
the court system can allow certain state agencies to sue the parent not
making these payments for all the costs of supporting the child.
The guidelines require
that both parents exchange the proper information such as income, child
care costs, insurance expenses, and special considerations. The courts
encourage complete disclosure of this information. Failure to do so
irritates the courts and only makes the entire procedure more expensive
and frustrating.
Usually there must be a
change in child support of at least 10%, or more than three years have
passed since the last modification, before the courts will adjust the
child support, unless a child has moved into another age bracket. Under
the Kansas guidelines, a change in the custodial parent's income has
very little impact on the child support.
Child support is
intended to provide for the needs of the child. These needs are more
than just the child's direct needs and include other family expenses
such as housing, utilities, and transportation. Normally the courts are
not concerned with the actual day to day expenses of raising a child. It
is very difficult and time consuming to identify these expenses and then
convince the courts to modify child support based on this information.
This also means that there is no need to keep detailed records of
expenses paid for a child unless required by a court order.
Child support and
parenting time are separate issues under Kansas law unless there is an
explicit court order linking them together. Thus the payor still has the
right to see the child even if there has been no child support payments
and child support payments are still due even if the payor does not see
the child. There are some special adjustments if the parents have shared
residency.
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