AUG 16 UPDATE:
A new version (5) of the Kansas child support guidelines was released on Aug 14, 2024 under Supreme Court order 2024-RL-073 and supresedes all prior child support guidelines orders. Version 5 makes further corrections to errors found on the child support worksheet (pages 27-29). The errors that were corrected may drastically change the parenting time adjustment, and possibly other calculations, if the worksheet is followed to the letter. We don't know if a version 6 is on the way, so we'll wait to write a summary blog of all the 2024 updates.
AUG 1 UPDATE:
Version 4 was released at some point on July 31st and is effective Aug 1st. Version 4 is released under Supreme Court order 2024-RL-068 and supresedes all prior child support guidelines orders. Version 4 makes some corrections to errors found on the child support worksheet (pages 27-29). In our view, there still appears to be some confusing areas of the worksheet and the guidelines. We will likely provide another blog post after the dust settles from all these updates.
PREVIOUS VERSIONS:
As I was drafting this post, I was advised that another version (4) to the guidelines was in the release process The below information may yet be revised again by the committee.
The Kansas Child Support Committee have released another update to the 2024 guidelines. This becomes the 3rd installment of the 2024 Kansas child support guidelines. The original 2024 child support guidelines were released in 2023 under Supreme Court Order 2023-RL-080 and became effective January 1, 2024. On March 27, 2024, the committee circulated a survey soliciting public comments against an updated version (2) of the 2024 guidelines. Version (2) was stamped by the Supreme Court under Supreme Court Order 2024-RL-062 and was to become effective July 1, 2024. However, errors were discovered by parents and/or practitioners prior to July 1st. The guidelines were subsequently revised, re-stamped, and re-issued under the same 2024-RL-062 order. Version (3) is effective Aug 1, 2024.
All of the changes discussed in our April Blog Post appear to remain applicable to the latest version. A few additional changes are below:
- The Equal Parenting Time (EPT) worksheet has been eliminated from the guidelines and is no longer a part of the child support worksheet.
- The child support worksheet itself has been reformatted.
- The apportioning of health care and child care expenses are done differently for shared residency cases now.
To expand on the final point above, health care and child care expenses were previously included with the child support obligation. Upon calculating (high - low)/2, the health care and child care expenses were also apportioned in the same manner. The latest guidelines perform the Shared Expense Formula calculation before adding the income proportionate share of health care and child care expenses. This change is likely to increase child support for most shared residential parents, but in my opinion, the change is more technically correct.