What Parents Should Know About Kansas Child Custody Disputes [Part I]

If you are contemplating divorce or a paternity action in Kansas, you may have many concerns about child custody, responsibility for parental decision-making and other important issues that will impact your children’s well-being as well as your parent-child relationship.  Experienced Kansas child custody attorney Tom McDowell often is able to assist his clients in obtaining a mutually acceptable timesharing plan.  Mr. McDowell is committed to minimizing the stress and anxiety on his clients’ children while seeking the best possible outcome for his clients.  This multi-part blog post covers some of the key questions about which people often receive misleading information when facing a custody disputes in Kansas:

Do I have a right to deny visitation or parenting time if the other parent fails to pay child support?

Absolutely not!  While it can be extremely frustrating and stressful when a parent fails to comply with their financial support obligations, courts respond extremely negatively toward retribution that involves interfering with parental access.  It is important to remember that the best interest of the child standard guides Kansas courts when making orders about custody and visitation issues.  Under Kansas law, there is a presumption that continuing contact with both parents is in the best interest of children.  When a parent denies this conduct a court will consider this as an act against the best interest of your children.  There are other remedies for seeking child support enforcement, such as pursuing contempt proceedings.

Can I get 50-50 custody with my mom providing babysitting if I work long hours?

If you work long hours or have a job where you are away from home for extended periods, a 50-50 timeshare arrangement can be difficult to obtain.  Kansas family law courts generally favor placing a child with a parent over any third party even a grandparent, lifelong family friend or stepparent.  In situations like this, the best way to maximize the parenting time you get with your children is to seek a less traditional timesharing arrangement.  This would involve asking for a disproportionate amount of the time when you are available as opposed to arguing for splitting the week when this really amounts to simply placing the child with an alternate caregiver during your custodial time.

Will I be made the primary residential parent if I have been a stay at home parent?

While this is certainly a possibility, courts increasingly look to provide both parents with substantial amounts of parenting time.  If the other parent’s availability does not permit for a fairly equal timesharing arrangement, then you may be deemed the primary residential parent.  However, the court will look at a variety of factors in determining the best interest of your children, which includes but is not limited to the quality and nature of each parent’s prior relationship with the children.

If you have questions about child custody and/or parenting plans in Kansas, we urge you to schedule a free consultation so that we can answer your questions.  We also invite you to review the second part of this blog for more information about child custody issues in Kansas.  Wichita, KS child custody attorney Thomas C. McDowell has been practicing law for over two decades.  We provide legal representation in both divorce and paternity cases.  So please call us today at 316-269-0746 or submit an online case evaluation form.