Brief(1)
House Sub. for S.B. 150 makes several changes to the law regarding children, child custody, parental rights, and related issues. Major features of the bill are as follows.
Parenting Time--Joint Shared Custody. Throughout the appropriate statutes, the term visitation rights is replaced by the term parenting time. In those current statutes with a reference to joint custody, the term is changed to joint shared custody.
Mediation. If mediation is ordered regarding parenting time and the division of property, the mediator must submit a summary of the parties' understanding to the hearing officer within five days after it is signed. The hearing officer will either enter an order or set the matter for a hearing within ten days of the receipt of the summary. If mediation is terminated, a report of termination will be made to the hearing officer within five days of termination. The matter will then be set for a hearing by a district court judge within ten days after receipt of the termination report. The bill requires the court to assess costs against the person who denied or interfered with parenting time. A similar provision is inserted for mediation in situations involving joint shared custody when a mutually agreeable parenting plan cannot be reached.
Change of Residence--Change of Circumstances. The parent granted parenting time or the nonresidential custodian of the child(ren) must be provided with a 21-day prior notice when the other parent changes the residence of the child(ren) to another state or county within the state.
Such a change of residence may be considered a material change of circumstances. Under a motion alleging a material change of circumstances, the following nonexclusive list of factors must be considered:
Grandparent as Interested Party--Notice. The bill changes the definition of interested party to include any grandparent.
Notice of a hearing under the Child in Need of Care Code must be mailed, by regular mail, to the child's grandparents with whom the child does not reside.
Interlocutory Orders--Divorce Code. During the pendency but before final orders of a divorce, annulment, or action for separate maintenance, a provision for joint shared custody requires that within 15 days of an order of custody, the parties shall submit a temporary parenting plan to the court. If the parties cannot agree, the judge shall, upon request of one of the parties, order mediation. If the parties still cannot agree, the judge will issue a temporary parenting plan, appropriate to the parties' circumstances and consistent with the best interests of the child(ren).
Abatement of Child Support. The bill provides that if an order of abatement of child support is not ordered during the time the child(ren) live with the nonresidential parent, the residential parent must show that the child(ren) were not living with the nonresidential parent.
Many of the provisions of the bill came from H.B. 2002.
The House Committee of the Whole inserted an amendment to the Kansas Code for Care of Children appeals procedure to provide that every notice of appeal, docketing statement, and brief must be verified by the interested party. Failure to do so will result in dismissal of the appeal.
Background
In the Committee hearing on H.B. 2002, several parents appeared in support of the bill. Opposition was expressed by an attorney active in the practice of family law.
The original S.B. 150 was requested by the Family Law Advisory Committee to the Judicial Council. A proponent of the original bill indicated the bill was intended to clarify the law by creating two custodial arrangements: legal and physical. A member of the Supreme Court's Child Support Guidelines Advisory Committee suggested amendments to require parenting plans and to change visitation terminology to parenting time.
The original S.B. 150 had no fiscal impact.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html