Frequently Asked Questions

The best numbers to call depending on the specific information you need:

• Self-Representation (Pro Se) and Court Forms - The Self Help Center at (913) 573-2813 has a staff of knowledgeable District Court clerks who help answer non-legal questions about how to get the proper forms to assist in representing yourself in your case. They also have many general forms to assist in filing Pro Se Motions and Orders.
  
  
• Your Specific Case Information, if managed by the Court Trustee’s Office - Court Trustee’s Office at (913) 573-2992, can assist you with updates on your case, making payments, confirming court dates, and all other information regarding the child or spousal support for cases that are being managed by the Court Trustee’s Office.
  
  
• Your Specific Case Information, if managed by the Department of Children and Families’ Office - Please contact the Department of Children and Families, at 1 (888) 757-2445, for cases they are managing. The Court Trustee’s Office may not discuss information on any cases we are not overseeing.

None of the clerks in any office can give legal advice. The following agencies can assist you with legal questions:

• Kansas Legal Services' Justice Advice: 1 (800) 675-5860
• Kansas Bar Association's KS Lawyer Referral Service & Advice: 1 (800) 928-3111

Court Trustee's Office Hours

Monday - Friday
8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Closed 12:00 PM-1:00 PM for lunch.
1:00 PM-5:00 PM

See Courts Holiday Schedule.

Wyandotte County District Courthouse

The Court Trustee’s Office is in the Wyandotte County District Courthouse located at: 710 N 7th St, Suite 520, 5^th Floor, Kansas City, KS 66101.

Metered on-street parking and paid parking is located all around the Courthouse and across the road behind City Hall/the Municipal Court Building. There is additional on-street parking, at no cost, located on other streets near the Courthouse, but may be limited to 2 hours.

The government program currently administered by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) was established in 1975 as part of Part D of Title IV of the Social Security Act. This program is usually called the “Title IV-D program” and it is a Federal/State partnership whose mission is to enforce child support obligations against non-custodial parents. State IV-D programs are required to provide child support establishment and enforcement services to families receiving public financial assistance and to other families who apply for services. The State program must attempt to locate non-custodial parents, establish paternity, establish, and enforce support orders, and collect child support payments.

Pursuant to the Wyandotte County District Court Administrative Order issued on February 1, 1991, any subsequent cases involving child support establishment, modification, monitoring, or enforcement, that are not required to be referred to DCF under the Federal IV-D program, are to be referred to the District Court Trustee’s Office. In other words, all Non-IV-D cases with children involved are to be referred to the Wyandotte County District Court Trustee’s Office for establishment, modification, monitoring, and enforcement of child support final and temporary orders, unless a "good cause exception" is granted by the Chief Judge.

Cases originally IV-D cases handled by DCF may become Non-IV-D cases when parties no longer receive state assistance. If no state assistance is being received and no money for past state assistance is owed to the State, a party may request that child support establishment, modification, monitoring, and enforcement in their case be transferred to the Court Trustee’s Office. Examples of state services include financial assistance like, partial or full childcare payments, partial or full medical insurance payments, food stamps, etc. The party that used to receive state services may request, in writing, that support establishment, modification, monitoring and enforcement of child support be transferred to the District Court Trustee’s Office. A model form to Request to Terminate DCF Child Support Enforcement is provided on the Self Help Center page of the District Court website.

The Kansas Payment Center disburses payments within 48 hours. A District Court Trustee fee, currently set at 5% of the support collected, is retained to defray the expenses of operating the office. When child support is originally calculated in a case, 5% of the base child support payable by the paying parent is determined and then ½ of that amount is added to the base child support to come up with the total to be paid each month. When the Kansas Payment Center disperses payments to the child support recipient parent, it deducts the 5% Court Trustee’s fee, before sending the payment to the recipient parent, and sends the fee to the Court Trustee’s Office. This procedure effectively charges ½ of the fee to both parents – paying parent’s half of the fee was added to the monthly payment in the original calculation and deducted on disbursement and the recipient parent’s half is deducted from disbursement they will receive.

They are rules judges and hearing officers follow to decide how much child support each parent is to pay toward raising their children. They guide parents to create a fair and balanced distribution of resources essential to raising children: time and money.

The Kansas Supreme Court is designated by law to establish and review the Kansas Child Support Guidelines. The Kansas Supreme Court appoints an advisory committee of individuals with experience in child support. Committee members have included judges, attorneys, law professors, accountants, legislators, and parents. The Supreme Court also uses an independent economist to provide the advisory committee an analysis of economic changes in the state and nation regarding costs and expenditures associated with raising children.

Yes. Advisory committee meeting dates are published on this website. Minutes, agendas, and reports of the committee are open records and available to the public.

Federal law requires that every state's child support guidelines be reviewed every four years, and it takes about (2) years to conduct the review. The best way to communicate with the committee is by email to kansascsg@kscourts.org or U.S. mail to:

Office of Judicial Administration

Child Support Guidelines Advisory Committee
301 SW 10^th Ave., Topeka, KS 66612

Federal law requires that child support guidelines be reviewed every four years. The next review must be complete by January 1, 2024, so the Kansas Child Support Guidelines Advisory Committee will resume meeting in 2022.

They were much simpler when they were established in 1987. Since then, the advisory committee and the Supreme Court has listened to parents, judges, and attorneys, and added rules that allow judges to consider many special circumstances before ordering child support obligations. Every rule is intended to make the guidelines fair to all parties, easy to understand, and applicable to the many special circumstances that exist for parents and children. The guidelines' complexity is a direct response to feedback from parents who are most affected by the guidelines and by the attorneys and judges who apply the rules in court.

The math behind the guidelines is complex and requires understanding power functions, linear equations, and logarithms. An economist's report that explains the math is included in the committee's report to the Supreme Court. For the rest of us, there are a few basic principles and facts that are important to know.

The guidelines are based on how parents spend money on children. To help determine what Kansas parents spend, we look at Expenditures on Children by Families, a periodic report by USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The report is based on consumer expenditure surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional data cover Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Child support obligations are the final determination of how much each parent owes toward total child support. Many variables go into this figure, starting with gross income of both parents. Reasonable business expenses, child support obligations for other children, and court ordered maintenance in other cases are subtracted, and income from court ordered maintenance is added. The result is referred to as the parent's child support income. Using this combined child support income, refer to the schedules and round up to the nearest dollar amount. Find the appropriate table for the number of children in the family and their ages; add the total, if there is more than one child, and the result is a gross child support obligation. From there, parents add or subtract for items such as health and dental insurance premiums, work-related childcare costs, and other adjustments.

Parents pay a proportional share of the obligation based on their child support income. If one parent earns 60% of the parents' combined gross income and the other parent earns 40%, then their child support obligation will be shared 60-40.

Income earned by a new spouse or other relationship is not considered income. Income from public assistance and child support received for other children in the residence is not considered part of the gross income.

Yes. The Supreme Court and the advisory committee recognize the difficult financial challenges most parents face following a separation. Often, money is tight before a divorce, and establishing a second home adds to that strain.

In 2004, the advisory committee adopted a recommendation from the economist to account for the establishment and maintenance of two homes. This reduction is called the dissolution factor and continues to be present in the child support schedules. Currently, the dissolution factor reduces the child support schedules at all income levels starting at $228.24 at the poverty level up to $324.68 at the highest income levels. This reduction is shared proportionately by both parents to recognize the expense of establishing and maintaining two households.

First, the USDA's report, Expenditures on Children by Families, takes taxes into account as an expenditure. Second, there are many ways an individual can artificially reduce income so that a net income, or take-home pay, becomes a less reliable statement of income than gross income.

Everyone has circumstances that are different. The guidelines give parents a variety of options to account for unique or unusual tax circumstances. In addition to an income tax adjustment, judges and attorneys have rulings by Kansas appellate courts that provide direction to account for certain personal and business taxes.

Over the years, the Supreme Court has created several ways to consider special circumstances of parents or a child. First, Kansas uses an expenditure-based formula derived from a detailed analysis of how families at different income levels spend money on their children. The Kansas Child Support Schedules start with the gross monthly income for both parents. Each parent may subtract for items such as reasonable business expenses, court-ordered child support, or maintenance. Court-ordered maintenance is added to the parent's income.

In addition to these adjustments, the Supreme Court has authorized adjustments if the child spends more than 35% of his or her time with the nonresidential parent, if either parent incurs expenses due to long-distance parenting time, if the parents do not share income tax deductions, if the child has special needs, if parents agree to support a child past the age of majority, and a general category that allows the court to consider the parents' overall financial condition. This last category, overall financial condition, is meant to apply to circumstances that don't fit any of the other categories.

Not automatically. Every child support obligation can be reviewed at least once every three years. If you believe your child support obligation would increase or decrease by more than 10% on any new order by the Supreme Court or on an unrelated change of your circumstance, you may be eligible to return to court on a change of circumstances, even if three years has not elapsed.