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How to Modify Child Custody in Kansas

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Kansas · Last updated October 7, 2026

Kansas does not treat custody as one thing. The Kansas Family Law Code orders three separate items, legal custody, residency and parenting time, and modifying child custody here means asking the district court that entered your existing order to change one or more of them because something significant has shifted since. Which of the three you want changed decides how hard the ask is. K.S.A. 23-3218(a) requires a material change of circumstances to alter legal custody, residency or visitation. K.S.A. 23-3221(a) lets the court modify a parenting time order whenever modification would serve the child's best interests, with no change of circumstances element at all. No Kansas statute makes you wait first. There is no waiting period and no time bar, so the only deadline in this process runs against the parent who is moving: K.S.A. 23-3222(a) requires 30 days' written notice to the other parent, by restricted mail with return receipt requested, before changing the child's residence or taking the child out of Kansas for more than 90 days. No mileage threshold exists, so a move across town counts. Skipping that notice is indirect civil contempt and can cost you the other parent's attorney fees. One paper screen does guard custody and residential placement motions: under K.S.A. 23-3219(a) your motion must be verified or carry an affidavit stating all known facts with specificity, and the court shall deny it if those facts fail to establish a prima facie case. The post-decree docket fee is $40 under K.S.A. 28-179(a). Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in Kansas

What is prompting the change to your custody order?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

Is there a waiting period to modify custody in Kansas?

No. No provision of the Kansas Family Law Code bars or delays a motion to change legal custody, residency, visitation or parenting time. K.S.A. 23-3218(a) conditions the change on a material change of circumstances rather than on elapsed time, and parenting time carries no change requirement under K.S.A. 23-3221(a).

How much notice must a Kansas parent give before moving with a child?

Thirty days. K.S.A. 23-3222(a) requires written notice to the other parent, by restricted mail with return receipt requested, at least 30 days before changing the child's residence or removing the child from Kansas for more than 90 days. No mileage threshold applies to that duty.

What does a Kansas custody modification motion have to contain?

Under K.S.A. 23-3219(a), a motion to change child custody or residential placement must state with specificity, in a verified motion or an accompanying affidavit, every known factual allegation behind the request. If those allegations fail to establish a prima facie case the court shall deny the motion.

Which court changes a custody order in Kansas, and what does it cost?

The district court that entered the order. K.S.A. 20-301 places a district court of general jurisdiction in each county, and K.S.A. 23-37,202 keeps exclusive continuing jurisdiction there. K.S.A. 28-179(a) sets a $40 post-decree docket fee, uniform statewide under K.S.A. 28-148.

Kansas custody modification at a glance

Modifying child custody in Kansas means asking the district court that entered your existing order to change it because something significant has shifted since that order. Kansas splits the subject into three separately ordered items, legal custody, residency and parenting time, and applies two different tests. Changing legal custody, residency or visitation needs a material change of circumstances under K.S.A. 23-3218(a). Changing a parenting time order needs only the child's best interests under K.S.A. 23-3221(a). Nothing makes you wait: Kansas sets no time bar at all. What it does set is a duty that bites before you move. K.S.A. 23-3222(a) requires 30 days' restricted mail notice to the other parent before the child's residence changes, with no mileage floor, and failing to send it is indirect civil contempt.

A twelve mile move from Wichita to Derby

Picture a Kansas parent with residency who takes a new job and moves the household twelve miles, from Wichita to Derby, keeping the child in the same metro area. Because K.S.A. 23-3222(a) contains no mileage threshold and attaches to any change of the child's residence, that short move still owes the other parent 30 days' written notice by restricted mail, return receipt requested. Sending a text instead is not compliance, and failing to send it is indirect civil contempt that can carry the other parent's attorney fees. The other parent has no objection window and no veto. What they do have is K.S.A. 23-3222(c), which lets the move itself be weighed as a material change of circumstances, with increased cost of exercising parenting time named as a factor. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Relevant Laws

K.S.A. 23-3218 (modification of custody, residency, visitation and parenting time)

The modification authority. Subject to the UCCJEA, the court may change any prior order of custody, residency, visitation and parenting time when a material change of circumstances is shown. It also bars an ex parte shift of residency away from the sole de facto residential parent absent sworn testimony of extraordinary circumstances.

K.S.A. 23-3221 (modification of a parenting time order)

The separate and lighter track. The court may modify an order granting or denying parenting time whenever modification would serve the child's best interests, with no change of circumstances element. Subsection (b) makes repeated unreasonable denial of parenting time a possible material change justifying a custody or residency change.

K.S.A. 23-3222 (change in the child's residence; notice; effect; exceptions)

Requires written notice to the other parent, by restricted mail with return receipt requested, not less than 30 days before changing the child's residence or removing the child from Kansas for more than 90 days. Failure is indirect civil contempt plus possible attorney fees, and the move may be treated as a material change of circumstances.

K.S.A. 23-3219 (modification of final order; specify factual allegations)

The paper screen for custody and residential placement motions. The movant must state all known factual allegations with specificity in a verified motion or accompanying affidavit, and if they fail to establish a prima facie case the court shall deny the motion. Subsection (b) governs emergency ex parte requests.

K.S.A. 28-179 (post-decree motion docket fee)

Sets a $40 docket fee for a post-decree motion petitioning for a change in legal custody, residency, visitation rights or parenting time, payable to the clerk of the district court. A poverty affidavit may be filed in lieu, and the section provides the fee may only be established by an act of the legislature.

Regional Variances

Kansas custody modification levers at a glance

Waiting period before you may file

None. No section of the Kansas Family Law Code bars, delays or conditions a modification motion on elapsed time. Because there is no bar, Kansas has no endangerment escape hatch keyed to a clock either. The six month figure a parent may encounter is the UCCJEA home state rule in K.S.A. 23-37,201, which decides which state's courts may hear the case.

Standard, and it differs by what you ask for

Two standards run side by side. Legal custody, residency and visitation: a material change of circumstances must be shown under K.S.A. 23-3218(a), plus best interests under K.S.A. 23-3201 measured against the eighteen factors in K.S.A. 23-3203(a). Parenting time: best interests alone under K.S.A. 23-3221(a), with no change of circumstances element.

Move notice

Thirty days' written notice to the other parent by restricted mail, return receipt requested, under K.S.A. 23-3222(a). Two triggers: any change of the child's residence, and removing the child from Kansas for more than 90 days. No mileage threshold exists, so short moves are covered. No consent step, no objection window, no court permission.

What happens if notice is skipped

K.S.A. 23-3222(b) makes it indirect civil contempt, plus discretionary attorney fees and expenses. Separately, K.S.A. 23-3222(c) lets the move itself count as a material change of circumstances, and names three factors including the increased cost the move imposes on the parent exercising parenting time.

Procedural screen

A prima facie screen, not an adequate cause screen. Under K.S.A. 23-3219(a) a motion to change child custody or residential placement must be verified or carry an affidavit stating all known factual allegations with specificity, and the court shall deny it if they fail to establish a prima facie case. A parenting time only motion sits outside those words.

Court

The district court that entered the order, filed into the same case. K.S.A. 20-301 places a district court of general original jurisdiction in each county, and K.S.A. 23-37,202 gives the Kansas court that made the determination exclusive continuing jurisdiction until the significant connection or residence tests fail.

Forms

Kansas publishes a statewide Judicial Council form set for modifying parenting time, named rather than numbered: Motion to Modify Parenting Time, UCCJEA Affidavit, Proposed Parenting Plan, Notice of Hearing, Request and Service Instruction Form, Return of Service for Certified Mail. No statewide form exists for a change of legal custody or residency.

Filing fee

$40 under K.S.A. 28-179(a) for a post-decree motion seeking a change in legal custody, residency, visitation rights or parenting time. K.S.A. 28-148 makes court fees uniform in every county. The $173 figure in K.S.A. 60-2001(a) is the fee to open a new case, not to file this motion. Sheriff service costs ride on top.

Child's wishes

No statutory age. K.S.A. 23-3203(a)(3) has the court consider the desires of a child of sufficient age and maturity as to custody or residency, and factor four is separately the age of the child. Both sit inside an eighteen factor list the court shall consider, with no weighting and no right for the child to address the court.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Identify which order you are asking to change

Before you draft anything days after starting

Pull your existing order and work out whether you are changing legal custody, residency or parenting time. The answer picks your standard: material change of circumstances under K.S.A. 23-3218(a), or best interests alone for parenting time under K.S.A. 23-3221(a).

Assemble dated proof of the material change

Before you file days after starting

Gather school records, work schedules, messages and medical notes showing what shifted since the order. Kansas sets no waiting period, so timing is never your obstacle and the record is the whole case. Measure it against the eighteen factors in K.S.A. 23-3203(a).

Send the 30 day move notice if the child's residence is changing

At least 30 days before the move days after starting

K.S.A. 23-3222(a) requires written notice to the other parent by restricted mail, return receipt requested, at least 30 days ahead. It applies to any change of the child's residence regardless of distance, and to taking the child out of Kansas for more than 90 days.

Draft the verified motion and supporting affidavit

Once your evidence is assembled days after starting

Under K.S.A. 23-3219(a) state every known factual allegation with specificity, either in a verified motion or an affidavit filed with it. Holding a fact back risks the motion, because the court shall deny it if the allegations fail to establish a prima facie case.

Complete the Judicial Council companion forms

Alongside the motion days after starting

For a parenting time change, fill out the UCCJEA Affidavit and the Proposed Parenting Plan from the Kansas Judicial Council set, and the Notice of Hearing except for the date. K.S.A. 23-3213(b) sets the minimum provisions the plan must contain.

File with the clerk of the district court and pay the $40 fee

Promptly, since hearing dates run weeks out days after starting

Take the original and copies to the clerk of the district court that entered your order, filing into the same case. K.S.A. 28-179(a) sets the post-decree docket fee at $40, and a poverty affidavit may be filed in lieu of it.

Serve the other parent and file the return of service

Before your hearing date days after starting

Serve the filed motion and Notice of Hearing. If you use certified mail, file the Return of Service for Certified Mail once the receipt comes back and before the hearing. Sheriff service inside or outside Kansas is available and carries its own fee.

Keep following the existing order until the judge signs a new one

Through the hearing date days after starting

A parent who simply stops complying has an enforcement problem, not a modification, and K.S.A. 23-3221(b) lets repeated unreasonable denial of parenting time count as a material change against them. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Frequently Asked Questions

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