How Child Support Is Calculated in Kansas

Support is set using the Kansas Child Support Guidelines (effective July 1, 2025). A schedule based on the parents' combined child support income, the number of children, and their ages gives the gross obligation, and each parent pays a proportionate share of combined income, plus shares of health insurance and work-related child care. The court may allow a parenting time adjustment or use a shared residency formula. The Judicial Branch provides the official Child Support Worksheet.

Child support ends when the child turns 18 unless: the parents agree in a court-approved written agreement to pay longer; the child turns 18 before finishing high school and is still attending, in which case support continues automatically (unless the court orders otherwise) until June 30 of that school year; or the child is still a bona fide high school student after that June 30, in which case the court, on motion, may continue support through the school year in which the child turns 19, if the parents jointly took part in or knowingly accepted the decision that delayed the child's graduation.

Within three years after the original order or the last modification, a court may modify child support (including in state child support cases) only when a material change in circumstances is shown; after three years, no material change needs to be shown. A change can be made retroactive to the first day of the month after the motion to modify is filed. Under the Kansas Child Support Guidelines, a change that would raise or lower the basic support obligation by 10%, or a change in the child's age group, is a material change that warrants review; non-historical second-job or overtime income of the nonresidential parent, irregular bonuses, and an increase in the residential parent's income generally do not count on their own.

Every new or modified support order must include an income withholding provision. In state child support (Title IV-D) cases, the Kansas Department for Children and Families can order minimum payments toward arrears, levy a parent's cash assets (such as bank accounts) when arrears exist, and ask the Department of Revenue to restrict the driving privileges of a parent who owes past-due support or fails to comply with a subpoena, after notice and a chance for a hearing. A court can also hold a parent in indirect contempt for violating a support order after a motion and affidavit and an order to appear and show cause.

Kansas Child Support Services (CSS), a program of the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), works with both parents under a child support order. It automatically serves families receiving TANF, Food Assistance, Child Care Assistance, foster care or medical benefits, and any family can apply regardless of income; services are at no cost to families. Enroll online at CSSApply.dcf.ks.gov or download the paper enrollment form. Child Support Service Center: 1-888-757-2445; Customer Service: 1-833-765-2003; TTY: 1-785-296-1491.