All Wyandotte County divorce decrees contain a provision that child support orders are to be enforced by the District Court Trustee.

The District Court Trustee also enforces orders for spousal support. Recipients of support who are receiving SRS benefits, such as TAF (Temporary Assistance to Families), Medicaid, or daycare assistance must go through SRS for their child support enforcement services.  Those receiving food stamps, Healthwave or WIC may choose either SRS or the Trustee’s Office for child support enforcement services.

The Trustee’s Office will get involved in enforcing child support or spousal support early in the case, even during the temporary order stages (prior to the judge entering a final decree), if requested by the recipient, or if we become aware of a need for enforcement at the temporary order stage of the case.  Please contact our office to inquire about temporary orders enforcement.  Please make sure your attorney furnishes us a copy of the final decree of divorce after it is entered by the court.

The Trustee’s Office also enforces orders for child support entered in cases filed under the Protection from Abuse Act.  Those orders are valid for one year, and may be extended for one more year.  Our office highly recommends that recipients establish paternity for the children in these cases, either through the services of SRS or through our office, so that support orders become permanent.

When a case is opened in our office, we will send the recipient and the parent obligated to pay support, a packet of information.  As the recipient, we ask that you complete and return the forms in the packet as soon as possible.  The more information you provide to us, the more likelihood of success in collecting your support.  As the parent obligated to pay support, you will receive information about where to pay support, as well as income withholding and how that works.
Once a case is opened in our office, it is important to keep us advised of changes to your address, phone number, or place of employment.

Under Kansas Law, child support is required to continue until a child:

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• reaches the age of (18), or;

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• June 30th of the year the child graduates from high school, whichever comes later.

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Our office will send out a letter, well in advance of the child’s 18th birthday, to the recipient, with a copy to the other parent, with a form that is a certification of the child’s school status.  The child may still be enrolled in school after turning (18), or may have completed high school, or dropped out. Please complete and return the form as soon as possible, so that we may file it with the court or take other actions as necessary.

There may be cases where the parents have agreed in the divorce to have support continue beyond the child’s 18th birthday, in which case, support will be enforced until the date set out in the divorce decree.

In cases where there are multiple children in the family, the Kansas case law provides that the child support will reduce proportionately as each child emancipates.

Example: if there are (3) children being supported, as each child emancipates, the support would go down by one-third.  When the last child in the family emancipates, unless an arrearage exists that will continue to be enforced, our office files a notice with the court that all support has been paid, and our case will be closed. 

See K.S.A. 60-1610(a)(1)(b) for more information.

Child support recipients who want their order reviewed may make a written request to staff by:

• Mail: 710 N 7th Street, Suite 520, Kansas City, KS 66101

• Fax, or;

• Email

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Orders are not automatically reviewed every (3) years to see if they are still appropriate. In a change of circumstances, such as a child attaining the age in the next “bracket” for child support may indicate an increase is warranted. Age brackets changed in January, 2008, and are now: age 0 - 5;  6 - 12; 13 - 18.

When we receive a written request for a review, the enforcement staff will send out requests for the parents to provide financial information, including pay stubs, day care receipts or other documentation, medical or dental insurance premium costs, etc. After all information is gathered, the staff can use child support calculation computer software to calculate the support pursuant to the Kansas Child Support Guidelines. In most cases, an increase of at least 10% must be anticipated before a motion can be filed with the court requesting an increased order for support. Many times parents simply agree upon an increase after our review, and we can file an agreement which the court then approves.

Payment Information

For information on:

• the last payment

• change your name or address

• request copies of payment records

• request a stop pay on a missing check, or;

• report a loss of stolen check

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Call: Kansas Payment Center: P: 1 (877) 572-5722. You will need your case number which you will find on your check stub or any legal document pertaining to your case. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO OBTAIN PAYMENT INFORMATION!

Law requires all states to establish a central payment center to process all child support payments in the state. In Kansas, all people or companies making child support and/or maintenance payments should send them to:

Kansas Payment Center
P.O. Box 758599 Topeka, KS 66675-8599

Help line for payers & payees: 1 (877) 572-5722
Employers: 1 (877) 729-6367

For payment information before September, 2000:
Call: Court Accounting: P: (913) 573-2882

Income Withholding is a process in which an employer withholds money from the non-custodial parents’ paycheck for support, in accordance with an order of the court, and sends it to the Kansas Payment Center.
 
Kansas law states that after July 1, 1993, all new or modified orders for support include an order for immediate income withholding. The non-custodial parent can also sign a voluntary request to pay support through payroll deduction.  If Income Withholding is ordered in the Divorce Decree or other Journal Entry and the Trustee Office has the name and address of the non-custodial parent’s employer, Trustee staff can send an Income Withholding Order to the employer without further notice to the non-custodial parent.
 
It usually takes approximately 4 - 6 weeks before the employer sends in the first payment. During this time, the non-custodial parent is responsible for making all payments as they become due. Once the employer begins sending in payments, they will usually fall into a pattern of paying once a month, biweekly, semimonthly or weekly.
 
The Income Withholding order will require the employer to deduct and send in a certain amount of money each month but will normally limit the total amount to be deducted from wages to 50% of after-tax income.