WHAT ARE THE LAWS REGARDING RELOCATION OF A CHILD IN KANSAS?

The KSA-23-3222 is the relocation statute. The state of Kansas has a specific statute on this issue. It requires that a party wishing to relocate provide the other parent with written notice, which must be sent by certified mail with a return receipt requested to the other parent's last known address. In that notice, you are supposed to indicate your intended moving date and the location in which you intend to move. Courts have been somewhat lenient on the second issue: if you do not have a clear address, you can provide a general city, state, and zip code for where you will be moving. Obviously, the clearer the notice is, the better it will uphold in court.

That notice has to be sent thirty days in advance of the day you plan to move. I tell all of my clients: if you know what day you want to move, you at least want to send it out 32 days in advance to make sure it gets there, and you do not have issues with that. That is the requirement: the notice must be provided. From that point in time, if you receive one of those notices and are not okay with the move, that notice would be required. Whether you are moving down the street or you are moving to the opposite coast of the country, there is no distance implied or stated in the statute as to when you have to give that notice.

For example, if you were changing your current residential address and making a movie that would affect where the kids would stay, you would have to give that notice. Again, that is whether you are moving down the street, across the country, or out of the country. Once that notice has been provided, if you are not okay with the movie and want to object as the other parent, you should promptly contact an attorney.

That notice does not have to get sent to your attorney; it just has to get sent to you personally, and it is your job to inform your attorney. Traditionally, if you are not okay with it, we would want to get a motion on file with the court, notifying them that you received the notice, and then state and levy the objections for whatever reason you are not okay with the move. As I tell clients, in certain situations, you may want to request an emergency hearing if, for example, someone has indicated they are going to move a significant distance away from their current state.

For example, our practice is located outside the greater metropolitan area. So, say someone were to move to western Kansas, which could be a good eight, nine hours away, even though it is in the same state. A monumental move, which greatly distances parents, can make a lot of things different in a case. If you live that far apart as parents, you would want to get in front of the court immediately to stop the other parent from moving. Usually, what the court will do is enter a temporary injunction saying, “Hey, other parent, you did what you needed to do by sending the notice, but this other parent has now objected, so I, as the court, am telling you, don’t move right now until we get this issue straightened out.” They will then have an evidentiary hearing on this case and hear everybody’s arguments in full. Those are the basic logistics of how that works.