Under Kansas law, both parents are required to provide towards the welfare of their child. The purpose of child support is to provide for your child’s needs. The needs of your child include direct and indirect expenses related to the day-to-day care of your child. Direct expenses for your child are those expenses paid directly to someone else, such as school, church, lessons, sport, etc. Indirect expenses are the expenses that benefit your child but are not paid directly for your child’s personal needs, such as food, transportation, housing, or utilities. Under Kansas law, the Courts consider the direct expenses of your child in determining a support amount, however, the indirect expenses are not considered.

In determining the amount of support paid by one parent to the other, the Kansas Courts require the completion of a Child Support Worksheet. The Child Support Worksheet takes into consideration all of the factors relevant to a determination of a support amount – such as Gross income, child support paid for another child, maintenance paid, maintenance received, child support received for another child, health insurance premiums, child-care costs, income tax considerations, special needs of the child, direct expenses of the child, and overall financial conditions of the parents.

If you want to challenge the amount of support calculated by the worksheet, you must convince the judge that your request to either raise or lower the support amount is in your child’s best interest. Should you be able to do so, the judge has the ability to adjust the child support amount either up or down.

Due to the confusing nature of the Child Support Worksheet and the intricacies of Kansas law, RS Law and attorney Ryan Shernaman is the advocate you need. We will fight for your rights as necessary to obtain the justice that your child deserves.