Law Office Of Kari Nelson

"Helping the scales of justice balance in your favor."

                                                          
   Divorce


If you are considering divorce, think twice.  Divorce is costly both emotionally and financially.  If you have any doubts about whether divorce is right for you, please contact a counselor before filing for a divorce.  If you are determined that divorce is the only answer, click on the links below to find helpful information concerning divorce in Kansas .

Divorce is usually a difficult and stressful time. The following information might help relieve some of your anxiety and help you understand the steps involved.

Although a form of legal separation called "Separate Maintenance" is available in Kansas , it is not a procedure usually recommended because it is frequently merely a prelude to divorce and increases the total cost of the legal services to the family.  Legal separation leaves the parties married to each other while providing a court order covering such subjects as property division, ongoing child support and custody, and spousal support.  In some limited situations, it may be desirable as an alternative to divorce.  If you are not sure you want a divorce, I usually recommend counseling services to see if the martial problems can be worked out.

Grounds
Most actions for divorces in the State of Kansas are filed on the ground called "Incompatibility. "In filing the divorce action, the Petition need only to state that the parties are "incompatible. "It is not necessary to allege or prove such traditional grounds as adultery, cruelty, physical abuse, etc., even though such conduct may have occurred.

Occasionally one spouse will state, "I will not give you a divorce" or "we are not incompatible."  While one spouse may object to the divorce, the final authority to grant a divorce belongs solely to the court: the parties involved do not have the power to "give" or "not give" a divorce.

Residency Requirements
Either you or your spouse must have been a resident of the State of Kansas for at least 60 days before the filing of the Petition for Divorce. Usually the divorce action is filed in the county in which you reside or your spouse resides.  You can discuss the exceptions to this procedure if you wish to file in a different county.

Who should file? There is no legal significance to whether the husband or wife files the Petition although there may be procedural and tactical advantages for the Petitioner.If your spouse has not filed yet, it would probably be best if you discuss the advantages and disadvantages of filing first.

The first step is to file a petition and possible motions for temporary orders for support and maintenance.

Next the papers must be served on your spouse. If can be done in a number of ways depending on the issues involved in your relationship.

It might also be beneficial for the parties to have restraining orders in place to establish boundaries during the dissolution of marriage.

In Kansas, unless there are extenuating circumstances, you have to wait at least 60 days after a divorce is filed before a divorce is granted.

Before a divorce is final, you must file a separation agreement, parenting plan, and journal entry as applicable.


It is neither practical nor ethical for a lawyer to represent competing interests.  In those isolated instances where you or your spouse have agreed on everything, it may be possible for one attorney to do all of the legal drafting.  However, an attorney can only legally represent one party to the action.

The Court Clerk charges a small fee when a divorce case is filed. There are no other "Court costs" collected by the Clerk of the Court.

Legal fees on the other hand can be very cost prohibitive and are based upon the time actually expended on your case, the complexity of the case, the novelty of the issues involved, and several additional factors. No divorce case is like any other, so "standard fees" are really impossible. The exact fee will vary with the services you require.

Basic divorce service usually include the initial conference; the preparation and filing of the Petition (or review of the Petition filed by your spouse); the preparation of an Entry of Appearance (or "receipt) to be signed by your spouse; conferences to obtain information from you concerning your assets, liabilities, income, and expenses and to make recommendations about property division and support; routine settlement negotiations with your spouse's attorney; preparation or review of Property Settlement and Support Agreement; preparation or review of Divorce Decree; preparation or review of forms required by the Kansas Bureau of Vital Statistics; and representing you at the Court hearing to obtain the divorce decree.  The fees for these services in an uncontested divorce generally run between $800.00 and $2,500.00, depending on the complexity of the case.

However, additional fees come into play when either party contest the divorce for any issue.  Additional fees are charged for additional conferences, extensive negotiation, complicated tax planning and advice (such as spousal maintenance arrangements), and for all other Court appearances.

If a trial is necessary, a divorce could cost a party tens of thousands of dollars.  As such, it is usually in the parties' best interest to set aside differences and work out settlement agreements between you.

Attorneys will usually require a refundable deposit ("retainer") after the initial interview and full payment by the time of the final hearing.  An attorney should discuss fees with you at the first meeting and the agreement should be expressed in a written contract which you may terminate at any time.

The degree of cooperation and agreement between you and your spouse regarding matters of child support, visitation, and property division has a direct effect on the amount of time which an attorney will have to spend on your case and, therefore, the fees incurred during a divorce.

It is in your best interest to come to a fair and equitable division of property and a reasonable agreement concerning the support, custody, and visitation with children.

Emotional "blackmail" or a desire for revenge for past or present transgressions can cloud the issues and almost always results in higher legal fees.

Other factors which may increase the cost of a divorce action where the parties cannot reach an agreement might be:

Depositions – A deposition is testimony under oath, taken by a court reporter in which the attorney (or attorneys) asks questions of a witness or party regarding the issues in the case. This is usually done in the attorney's office. The reporter's services alone may cost from $100.00 to as high as $500.00 or more, in addition to the legal fees.

Costs for making copies of tax returns, financial statements, medical reports, etc.  In some cases the parties may disagree concerning the proper value to be placed on a business, land, or other asset. In such cases, experts may be necessary (appraiser, accountants, business brokers, etc.) to establish the values.

In matters relating to child custody disputes, there may be need for psychological evaluations of the parties and/or children. The psychologist's fees can add from $150 to more than $1500 to the divorce costs.


Spousal maintenance is usually awarded today, either a) because the parties agree that a payment of spousal maintenance is appropriate or b) for a limited period of time, in order to enable the recipient of the spousal maintenance payments to complete and education or otherwise become self-supporting. The initial order for spousal maintenance, if imposed by the Court rather than by agreement, cannot last for more than ten years, although extensions can be ordered where justified.

Sometimes a part of the support payments are termed "spousal maintenance" by agreement, because such payments are taxed differently than child support payments. A recipient of maintenance ("alimony") or "family support" pays income tax on such money received as though it were earned income.

The Court will not allow a wife to "take her husband to the cleaners." Nor will the Court allow him to "cut her off without a dime." The law requires an "equitable division" of the property, taking all factors into consideration. I will work with you to reach a fair division of your property (regardless of who paid for it, or whose name it is in) which will be expressed in a Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement will include terms relating to support, insurance (health and life), responsibility for taxes, claiming dependents as exemptions on income tax returns, division of property, and other matters relating to the dissolution of the marriage.

It is my earnest desire that, with my help, you and your spouse can reach such an agreement. If so, it will be signed by you both and filed with the Court at the time of the divorce hearing.
If you can agree, the Court will decide how your property shall be divided. If the Court makes the decision, you are bound by it, even if you do not agree with the decision. Therefore, it is in your best interest to reach an agreement prior to the divorce hearing. The Court will usually accept the terms of the Property Settlement Agreement reached by the parties.


In some marriages, the ability of the parties (and the Court) to divide the marital property may be limited by an existing "Premarital" agreement (also sometimes called an "ante-nuptial" contract.)
If you believe that there is a premarital agreement which relates to your marriage, please let me know as soon as possible, and bring me a copy of it.


Each of the spouses has certain rights under applicable State and Federal laws to a continuation of their right to participate in employer-provided group health insurance at their former spouse's place of employment. A notice to the employer that a former spouse wishes to elect continued coverage should be given within 30 days after the decree of divorce is filed at the Courthouse. If you do not have health insurance of your own, you may wish to consider electing to a continuation of your coverage under your spouse's plan.

While life insurance coverage for the benefit of a former spouse is not normally required, one or both of the parties may be required to keep insurance in force to protect the payment of child support, property division, or spousal maintenance payments not yet made.

In addition, Kansas child support guidelines provide that the parents of minor children will be required to pay the uninsured costs of medical treatment for their children in proportion to the parent's respective incomes. It is therefore important that medical insurance for children be maintained whenever it is available.
An "uncontested divorce" (the parties agree on all matters relating to the divorce) can be accomplished in about sixty to eighty days from the date of filing the petition (or even sooner if the Court agrees that there is a genuine emergency which justifies shortening the required 60-day waiting period).
 
A "contested divorce" (if there is any item, such as property division, support, or child custody on which the parties do not agree) can delay the final hearing for a year or more, because more time must be reserved on the Court's calendar for presentation of the evidence.

If there is no appeal, your divorce will be final the day the Judge signs the Decree. An appealed divorce is not final until the appeal is decided.

The parties are forbidden to marry anyone (other than each other) for 30 days after the divorce becomes "final" unless both agree to waive their right to appeal.


The use of this website does not create an attorney-client relationship. Although I hope the information contained on this website will be helpful, it should not be a substitute for legal advice from an attorney that has reviewed the intricacy of your case.

Revised: 11/08/09