Kansas

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 80 out of 100

Kansas puts all property, including premarital and inherited property, into the pot and lets the judge divide it without a presumption, and the judge sets the maintenance amount. Each maintenance award is capped at 121 months, and fault counts only in gross and extreme cases. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Kansas ranks 30 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	20 / 20	All property owned by either spouse, including property owned before marriage and property acquired in a spouse’s own right, becomes marital property on filing and is divided justly and reasonably under listed factors with no presumption of equality. K.S.A. 23-2801(a), 23-2802(a), (c)
Alimony	10 / 20	Maintenance is set in an amount the court finds fair, just and equitable, but the court may not award maintenance for more than 121 months, subject to reinstatement motions if the decree reserves them. K.S.A. 23-2902(a), 23-2904
Fault	10 / 20	Fault is not considered in the financial aspects of a divorce except in a rare case where a party’s conduct is so gross and extreme that failing to penalize it would itself be inequitable. In re Marriage of Sommers, 246 Kan. 652, 792 P.2d 1005 (1990)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	Costs and attorney fees may be awarded to either party as justice and equity require. K.S.A. 23-2715
Second opinion	20 / 20	A party may ask the judge to step aside, but if the judge refuses, removal requires an affidavit alleging statutory grounds that is found legally sufficient, and no jury is available on property or maintenance. K.S.A. 20-311d

Getting in

A 3-day wait. Apply to a district court clerk or judge. The license cannot issue before the third calendar day after the application is filed, unless a judge finds an emergency or extraordinary circumstances. It expires six months after issue if the marriage has not taken place.
K.S.A. 23-2505(b), (f); K.S.A. 23-2510(a), (c), as amended by 2026 H.B. 2393, § 6

Who can marry you. Ordained clergy or a religious authority of any denomination, certain church licentiates and appointees, and state and municipal judges may officiate, before two witnesses over 18. A couple may marry without an officiant by mutual declaration under the rules of a religious group one of them belongs to. The statute does not address online ordination.
K.S.A. 23-2504; K.S.A. 23-2516

Common-law marriage: A couple can still become married here without a license. A couple can still form a common-law marriage in Kansas if both are at least 18, have capacity to marry, presently agree to be married, and hold themselves out to the public as spouses. The person claiming the marriage must prove it. Kansas treats a marriage as valid if it was valid where contracted.
K.S.A. 23-2502; K.S.A. 23-2508; In re Estate of Antonopoulos, 268 Kan. 178, 993 P.2d 637 (1999)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Kansas is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Kansas is an all-property state with no marital or separate category at divorce. Once a divorce is filed, everything either spouse owns, from before or during the marriage and however titled, becomes marital property for the court to divide. On request, the court sets a valuation date, which may be separation, filing or trial.
K.S.A. 23-2801; K.S.A. 23-2802(a)-(c)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

A judge can reach it either way. A Kansas court can divide an inheritance whether or not it touched a joint account, and need not give it back to the heir. The judge weighs its source and may still set aside an inheritance that can be located and traced, as the court allowed in Hair.
K.S.A. 23-2802(a), (c)(5); In re Marriage of Hair, 40 Kan. App. 2d 475, 193 P.3d 504 (2008)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

The spouse who got the care pays first. The common-law necessaries doctrine applies to husbands and wives equally, but a creditor must first pursue the spouse who received the goods or services, and the other spouse is liable only if that spouse’s resources are insufficient.
St. Francis Regional Medical Center, Inc. v. Bowles, 251 Kan. 334, 836 P.2d 1123 (1992)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

The surviving spouse may elect a percentage of the augmented estate that rises with the length of the marriage, from 3 percent after one year to 50 percent at 15 years, plus a supplemental amount bringing the total to $100,000; the augmented estate includes the probate estate, non-probate transfers to others and to the spouse, and the survivor’s own property.
K.S.A. 59-6a202, 59-6a203

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983), K.S.A. 23-2401 et seq.. A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if signed involuntarily, or unconscionable when signed together with inadequate disclosure, no written waiver of disclosure, and no adequate knowledge of the other’s finances. Postmarital agreements that divide property on divorce are not governed by the UPAA; the divorce court must find them valid, just and equitable before incorporating them in the decree.
K.S.A. 23-2407; In re Marriage of Traster, 301 Kan. 88, 339 P.3d 778 (2014)

What an agreement needs. A premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties and needs no consideration; no notarization, witnesses, waiting period or independent counsel is required, and a court may order support despite a waiver if the waiver would make a spouse eligible for public assistance at separation or divorce.
K.S.A. 23-2403, 23-2407(b)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. The Kansas Supreme Court’s guidelines set support from both parents’ combined income, with each parent responsible for a proportionate share. Support ends at 18, or later if the child is still in high school. Support beyond that, including for college, requires a written agreement the court approves.
K.S.A. 23-3001(b); K.S.A. 23-3002(a); Kansas Child Support Guidelines § IV, Kan. Sup. Ct. Admin. Order 2025-RL-121 (eff. July 1, 2025)

Moving away with a child. A parent must send the other parent written notice by restricted mail at least 30 days before changing the child’s residence or taking the child out of Kansas for more than 90 days. The move may count as a material change. The judge weighs the child’s best interests. The burden falls on the parent asking to change the existing order, who is often the parent objecting to the move.
K.S.A. 23-3222; In re Marriage of Grippin, 39 Kan. App. 2d 1029, 186 P.3d 852 (2008); In re Marriage of Ray & Fellers, No. 121,011 (Kan. Ct. App. May 15, 2020) (unpublished)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: 60 days. Either spouse must have been an actual resident of Kansas for the 60 days right before filing. A person who has lived or been stationed at a military post in Kansas for 60 days may file in a county next to the post. The rule does not depend on where the couple married or where the grounds arose.
K.S.A. 23-2703; K.S.A. 60-607

How long it takes. Incompatibility is the no-fault ground, and no separation is required. A divorce cannot be heard until 60 days after filing unless a judge declares an emergency. One spouse can pursue it over the other’s objection, but the judge must see real proof of incompatibility, not only a party’s charge.
K.S.A. 23-2701(a)(1); K.S.A. 23-2708; North v. North, 217 Kan. 213, 535 P.2d 914 (1975)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 120 days from arrival to a final decree (60 days of residence + 60-day wait). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Kansas and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Kansas lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Kansas” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.