Using a Kansas Visitation Schedule

It is essential to have an understanding of the laws regarding child custody and visitation in the state of Kansas before you create your visitation schedule. Learning these laws will help prepare you for making the schedule and also so you know what to expect in court. Kansas family laws regarding custody and visitation can be found in Chapter 60, Article 16 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated. Here you will find the definitions of the different types of custodial arrangements and also the different kinds of residential arrangements. According to the law, Kansas does not favor parental gender when awarding custodial rights and responsibilities. Both parents are considered equal and there is no presumption that infants and babies are better off with their mother. The main factor the court considers is the child's best interests. The court looks at the following criteria when determining what is in the best interests of the child:

• Each parent's custodial preferences;

• The child's wishes he/she is of appropriate age and maturity to voice a preference;

• The previously established relationships between each parent and the child and any other people who are important in the child's life;

• The child's residential and care giving history;

• How well the child has adapted to his/her current home, school and community;

• Each parent's willingness and capability to recognize the importance of the other parent in the child's life;

• Each parent's willingness to help foster a meaningful and continuing relationship between the child and the other parent;

• Any evidence of child or spousal abuse; and

• Whether either parent, any person living in the parent's home or in close contact with the child is a registered sex offender.

Both parents are expected to submit a parenting plan to the court and that plan must include a child visitation schedule, which is also called a parenting time schedule. Both parents working together is the best way to ensure your visitation schedule will serve your child's best interests. An effective Kansas visitation schedule should have three basic components:

• A regular schedule that dictates when each parent will spend time with the child on a regular, ongoing basis. The parents can design the schedule any way they wish as long as it meets the child's needs and serves the child's best interests.

• A holiday schedule that details which holidays the family celebrates and where the child will spend each holiday. Typically, parents rotate holidays during the year and alternate them each year. Other special days such as birthdays and three-day weekends may also be included in the holiday schedule. This schedule takes precedence over the regular schedule.

• A vacation schedule that shows when the child spends extended time with each parent when the child is on school breaks and vacations and also shows when the child will spend time with each parent during their personal vacation time.

Kansas law also allows grandparents and step-parents to be granted visitation rights. Granting rights for visitation to a non-parent does not diminish the authority and rights of the custodial parents and it does not delegate any custodial rights to the non-parent(s) who are granted visitation. If a non-parent petitions the court and is awarded visitation, you may want to propose a visitation time to take place so that it is convenient for you as well as your child.

If you design your child visitation schedule according to your child's best interests as the state of Kansas uses as their main priority, the court will most likely approve it.