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With years of experience litigating Kansas divorce and paternity cases, Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Topeka family law attorneys recognize that child custody and parenting time issues are highly sensitive. We provide the support and guidance you need to resolve your child custody, residency, visitation, and parenting time matters to serve the best interests of your children and your family. Let our Topeka child custody lawyers help you find an agreeable solution to your child custody matter in Shawnee, Riley, Geary, Brown, Nemaha, Jackson, Wabaunsee, or Jefferson County.

Child Custody in Your Divorce Case

When spouses with minor children divorce, a parenting plan will set out each parent’s rights and responsibilities with respect to the children. A parenting plan can address a number of issues and include many details, but it primarily sets out orders for legal custody, residency, and parenting time.

• Legal Custody. Legal custody has nothing to do with where a child lives. It refers to a parent’s authority to make significant, life-shaping decisions for a minor child, such as where and how the child will be educated; whether the child will receive religious instruction and what that religious instruction will be; and decisions regarding the child’s medical treatment and care. In Kansas, a judge may order joint custody (the parents share decision-making authority and must consult each other regarding these major decisions) or sole legal custody (only one parent has the authority to make these major decisions and need not consult the other). Joint legal custody is preferred in Kansas.
• Residency. Residency is the term used to describe where the child lives. Residency may be shared, such that a child stays with each parent an equal amount of time. But, if a child spends more time at one parent’s house, that parent is called the residential parent. The other is called the non-residential parent. The parenting plan will set out a schedule for when the child stays at each parent’s home.
• Parenting Time. A parent is entitled to reasonable parenting time unless a judge finds that parenting time would seriously endanger the child’s physical, mental, moral, or emotional health. Thus, even if a child is designated to live with only one parent or to live primarily with one parent, the other parent is generally entitled to spend time with the child. The amount of time and directives regarding when and where it will occur may be specified in the parenting plan, or the plan may leave specifics for the parents to handle.

All decisions about child custody, residency, and parenting time are determined according to what is in the best interests of the child. When deciding these issues, judges consider: each parent’s involvement with the child before and after separation; the child’s emotional and physical needs; how the child has adjusted or may need to adjust to a certain home, school, and community; each parent’s willingness to respect the child’s bond with the other parent; and the child’s and the parents’ schedules.

Our Topeka family law attorneys discuss how the factors may be applied in your case. We work closely with our clients to learn about their unique family dynamics and needs so we can develop a parenting plan that meets our clients’ and the court’s approval.

Child Custody in Other Family Law Matters

JHC’s Topeka child custody lawyers also regularly address child-related matters in paternity actions, as well as proceedings involving grandparent rights and guardianships.

• Only after paternity is established can a court enter a parenting plan to designate legal custody, residency, and parenting time for minor children born to unmarried parents. Thus, unmarried parents often proceed with a paternity case upon their separation. Our Topeka child custody lawyers work with both fathers and mothers who need to file or defend a parentage case. We help ensure both parents’ rights and obligations are recognized and observed.
• Grandparent Rights. When parents separate or divorce, grandparents may become concerned about their ability to maintain a relationship with their grandchild(ren). Similar concerns often arise after the passing of a parent to a minor child. Under Kansas law, a judge may order visitation rights for grandparents. Our Topeka child custody lawyers represent grandparents who want to establish or change their visitation rights as well as parents who want to block or terminate a grandparent’s visitation rights.
• Kansas parents have a constitutional right to custody and control of their children, but Kansas courts can appoint someone to act as a minor child’s guardian when the child’s parents are incapable of providing necessary care for the child. JHC’s Topeka child custody attorneys are experienced in representing clients on all sides of these issues. Our attorneys help establish guardianships for minor children and also represent the interests of parents in these proceedings.

Contact Our Topeka Child Custody Attorneys

For representation related to the custody of and care for a child you care about, call JHC’s Topeka child custody attorneys today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Topeka Child Custody Attorneys

Who has custody of a child when the parents are not married?

In Kansas, when parents are unmarried, the mother is automatically given sole custody with full parental rights unless paternity has been legally established. Paternity can be established either voluntarily by both parents (by signing a voluntary admission of paternity or listing the father on the child’s birth certificate), or by the court in a paternity case.

Can a custodial parent move out of state?

 If both parents share joint legal or residential custody, or if they share parenting time, the parent with residential custody cannot simply move out of state. In Kansas, judges determine whether a child has to remain in the state based on what they think is in the best interests of the child. If circumstances change after an initial court order determining where a child must live, a parent may file a motion with the court to change the order. However, absent an agreement by the parties, the judge has final say regarding where the child may live.

Can I change a parenting plan after it has been ordered?

Once a parenting plan is agreed upon by the parties and/or ordered by the court, it can only be modified when there is a material change of circumstances. Whether a material change of circumstances is present is a determination left the judge’s discretion. One example of a material change of circumstances would be if one parent moves out of state. JHC’s family law attorneys can advise whether your situation has changed enough to rise to the level of a material change of circumstances and file a motion to modify the parenting plan if so.