General Instructions

A. Documentation

The party requesting a child support order or modification shall present to the court a completed worksheet, together with a completed Domestic Relations Affidavit (Appendix III). This information shall assist the court in confirming or adjusting the various amounts entered on the worksheet. The information required shall be attached to the application for support or motion to modify support.

A worksheet approved by the court shall be filed in every case where an order of child support is entered.

B. Applications

1. Rounding

   Calculations should be rounded to the nearest tenth for percentages.

   Calculations should be rounded to the nearest dollar in all instances.

   In using the Child Support Schedules for income amounts not shown, it may be necessary to round to the nearest basic child support obligation amounts.

   
   
2. Age

   In determining the age of a child, use the age on the child's nearest birthday.

   
   
3. Income Beyond the Child Support Schedule

   If the Combined Child Support Income exceeds the highest amount shown on the schedules, the court should exercise its discretion by considering what amount of child support should be set in addition to the highest amount on the Child Support Schedule. For the convenience of the parties, a formula is contained at the end of each child support schedule to compute the amount that is not set forth on the schedules. (See Appendix VIII, Example 2.)

   
   
4. More than Six Children

   If the parties share legal responsibility for more than six children, support should be based upon the established needs of the children and be greater than the amount of child support on the Six Child Families' Schedule.

   
   
5. Divided Residency Situations

   Divided Residency is when parents have two or more children and each parent has residency of one or more of the children. For Divided Residency, if each parent has primary residency of one or more children, a worksheet should be prepared for each family unit using the Child Support Schedule which corresponds with the total number of children of the parties living in each family unit. If the parties' children are covered by the same health insurance policy, the cost should be prorated based upon the number of children in each family unit. Upon completion of the two worksheets, the lower Net Parental Child Support Obligation is subtracted from the higher amount. The difference is the amount of child support the party having the higher obligation will pay to the party with the lower obligation. (See Appendix VIII, Example 1, Subsection D.2, Scenario 8.)

   
   
6. Multiple-Family Application

   The Multiple-Family Application may be used to adjust the child support obligation of the parent not having primary residency when that parent has legal financial responsibility for the support of other children who reside with that parent. The Multiple-Family Application may be used only by a parent not having primary residency when establishing an original order of child support or an increase in support is sought by the parent having primary residency. If using the Multiple-Family Application will result in a gross child support obligation (Line D.3 in the Child Support Worksheet) below the poverty level, the use of the Multiple-Family Application is discretionary.
   For the Multiple-Family Application, if the parent not having primary residency has children by another relationship who reside with him/her, use the Child Support Schedule representing the total number of children the parent not having primary residency is legally obligated to support to determine the basic child support obligation. (See Section IV, Specific Instructions for the Worksheet, subsection D.3; and Appendix VIII, Example 1, subsection D.2, scenarios 6 and 7.)
   If the wife of the parent not having primary residency or the parent not having primary residency herself is pregnant at the time of the motion to increase child support, the court shall complete two Child Support Worksheets, one with Multiple-Family Application including the unborn child, and one without the unborn child. The court shall then order that, until the birth of the child, the child support amount from the Child Support Worksheet (without a Multiple-Family Application based on the new child) will be utilized. Beginning with the first payment following the birth of the child, the child support amount from the Child Support Worksheet including the new child shall be utilized.
   In the instance of shared residency or divided residency, the Multiple-Family Application is available to either party in defense of a requested child support increase.

   
   
7. Shared Expense Formula

   Parents who share the children’s time equally or nearly equally may be eligible for a parenting time adjustment (see Section IV, E. 2) or use the shared expense formula, but not both.  In most cases, parents who share their children’s time equally or nearly equally should consider requesting a parenting time adjustment provided for in Section IV. E. 2 rather than use the shared expense formula.
   Sharing expenses and using the Shared Expense Formula is an alternative method of paying expenses related to the children.  Sharing expenses and using the shared expense formula is complicated and requires parents to communicate and cooperate regularly.  Sharing expenses and using the formula should only be attempted by parents who communicate well, who are highly cooperative co-parents, who have the ability and willingness to keep accurate records for the period of time necessary to raise their children, who will timely share the children’s direct expenses, who have similar values and tastes, who have considered the current and future needs of their children carefully, and who are willing and able to resolve minor problems without the intervention of others.
   
   a. Court Approval: No shared expense formula shall be ordered without the court having approved the following four requirements:
      1. Equal parenting time.  A court must have made a determination that equal parenting time is in the best interests of the minor children. The children’s time with each parent must be regular and equal or nearly equal rather than equal based on a nonprimary residency extended parenting time basis (i.e., summer visitation, holidays, etc.).
      2. Agreed Detailed Plan.
         a. The parties have executed a detailed written agreement to share the direct expenses of the child on an equal or nearly equal basis.  Direct expenses include, but are not limited to, clothing and education expenses, but do not include food, transportation, housing, or utilities.
         b. Unreimbursed health expenses (Section IV, Specific Instruction for the Worksheet, subsection D.4.b) should continue to be shared in proportion to the parties’ income. See worksheet Line D.2.
         c. Direct expenses may be shared by dividing each expense or by offsetting expenses.  Samples of different expense sharing plans are shown at Appendix X of the Guidelines.  These are shown for illustration purposes only.
      3. Worksheet: The parties must present a child support worksheet using the shared expense formula.
      4. Alternative dispute provision.  The parties shared expense agreement must include an alternative dispute process for any disagreements the parents may have concerning the children’s expenses.
   
   b. Sanctions: Failure to share expenses pursuant to the expense sharing agreement or failure to abide by the time sharing agreement may result in termination of the use of the shared expense formula or other appropriate sanctions.
   
   c. Shared Expense Formula: The support is calculated using one worksheet. The amount of the lower Net Parental Child Support Obligation (Line F.5) is subtracted from the higher amount and the difference is then multiplied by .50. The resulting amount is the child support the party having the higher obligation will pay to the party with the lower obligation.
   
   d. Prospective application: This section shall apply prospectively and its adoption shall not constitute a material change in circumstances in shared residential custody arrangements ordered prior to the effective date of these guidelines.

   
   
8. Residence with a Third Party

   If the child is residing with a third party, the court shall order each of the parties to pay to the third party their respective amounts of child support as determined by the worksheet.

   
   
9. Interstate Pay Differential

   The cost of living may vary among states. The "Average Annual Pay by State and Industry" as reported by the United States Department of Labor Statistics can be used to compute a value for the interstate pay differential. Appendix IV provides instructions and an example. The adjusted monthly income figure is entered on Line A.1, Line B.1, or Line C.4, as appropriate. There will be a rebuttable presumption that the adjusted pay amount reflects the variance in average pay. The application of the Interstate Pay Differential is discretionary.
   
   The income of the parties will not be subject to an interstate pay differential if both parties live in Kansas or reside in the same metropolitan statistical area (MSA).