Topeka Child Custody Attorneys

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With years of experience litigating Kansas divorce and paternity cases, Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Topeka child custody attorneys recognize that parenting issues are highly sensitive. Our goal is to help you obtain custody and parenting time that aligns with your children’s best interests. Our team in Topeka helps parents and guardians throughout Kansas, and we want to help you, too.

Why Separated and Divorcing Parents in Topeka Require a Parenting Plan

A parenting plan sets out each parent’s rights and responsibilities with respect to the children. A parenting plan can address a number of issues, including:

• how parents will make major decisions about the children’s education, health care, and religious upbringing;
• how both parents will be involved with the children’s activities, including school, sports, and other interests;
• where the children will live and how much time the children will spend with each parent;
• a schedule for holidays, special occasions, vacations, and other situations unique to the family;
• how the parents will communicate with each other and about each other;
• when it will be necessary to adjust to the changing needs of the children and parents; and
• how to resolve any future disputes that may develop (such as by mediation or another means of alternative dispute resolution outside of court).

Parenting plans are entered in divorce cases as well as paternity cases.

Legal Custody vs Residency in Topeka, KS

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 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 in Kansas

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.

Child Custody in Other Family Law Matters

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

• Paternity. 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 grandchildren. 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.
• Guardianship. 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. Our 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.

Frequently Asked Questions About Topeka Child Custody

Can I seek to terminate my ex’s parental rights?

Termination of parental rights is a serious step that Kansas courts will undertake only upon a clear and convincing showing that the parent is unfit or has abandoned his or her child. In addition, termination of parental rights must be in the best interest of the child.

Termination of parental rights may be a necessary step to facilitate adoption. If you are considering kinship adoption or step-parent adoption, Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Topeka child custody lawyers may be able to assist.

Can a criminal conviction affect my custody and parenting time?

A criminal record may affect your custody and parenting time. In all custody matters, the courts are primarily concerned with making decisions that are in the child’s best interests. Conviction of a crime could be relevant to this analysis, particularly if the offense in question:

• Is a violent crime, sex crime, or child abuse
• Occurred relatively recently
• Was committed against the child, another child in the home, or the other parent

Crimes involving the use of intoxicating substances may also impact custody determinations. If you’re a parent who is facing criminal charges, it is imperative that you speak with our Topeka criminal defense lawyer.

Do I have to follow the visitation plan if my co-parent stops paying child support?

Yes, you are required to follow the visitation plan and any other custody orders even if the other parent stops paying child support. Kansas courts view custody and child support as distinct matters. While many parents believe they have the right to keep their child from seeing the other parent if they stop receiving support, this could land a parent in major legal trouble.

Put simply, you are entitled to take appropriate legal action to enforce a court’s child support order. But that does not include violating the parenting plan or any other court order. If the co-parent of your child stops making payments, talk to our Topeka child support lawyers about contempt, modification, and other potential remedies. In the meantime, keep obeying all visitation plans and court orders.

Can a stepparent seek custody of a stepchild?

A stepparent that has adopted a child is that child’s legal parent and can be awarded custody of a child. A stepparent that has not adopted a child cannot obtain custodial rights (the right to make critical decisions about the child’s healthcare, education, and religious upbringing) but can obtain visitation rights (the right to spend time with the child on a regular basis).

Who pays attorney fees in child custody cases?

As a general rule, each party to a child custody case pays their own attorney fees. However, a court may order that one party pay the other party’s attorney fees in cases in which there is financial disparity between the parties or one party’s actions caused the other to incur unnecessary legal costs. Our firm is committed to transparency with respect to legal fees, so we explain our fee structure to all clients before they agree to retain us.

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

In Kansas, when parents are unmarried, the mother automatically has 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 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. Our family law attorneys in Topeka 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.

Do You Have a Child Custody Attorney Near Me?

Our office is located at 1508 SW Topeka Blvd, between 15^th and 16^th Streets, in Topeka. There is plenty of onsite parking. Joseph, Hollander & Craft has additional offices in Overland Park, Lawrence, Wichita, and Kansas City, MO. Proudly serving clients in Shawnee, Riley, Geary, Brown, Nemaha, Jackson, Wabaunsee, and Jefferson Counties.