Practice Areas

Divorce, Separate Maintenance, & Annulment

Divorce, separate maintenance and annulment are three separate processes for dissolution of a marital relationship.

Divorce is a process that permanently terminates the marriage and restores spouses to their previous legal status as single individuals. In Kansas parties can be divorced if just one party alleges irreconcilable differences. In a divorce action, the court may make orders regarding property and debt division, child custody, residency, parenting time, third party visitation, child support and spousal support, as is relevant to each case.

Separate Maintenance (or legal separation) is like divorce in that the couple can decide how to allocate parental rights and responsibilities, child support, spousal support, and property and debt distribution. The critical difference between the two remedies is that at the end of the legal separation process, the parties are still legally married. Separate maintenance actions are not commonly filed and may increase the cost.

Annulment can be requested no matter how long or short two people have been married, so long as the statutory requirements are satisfied. If granted, an annulment treats a marriage as though it had never existed.

We recognize that the dissolution of your marital relationship and dealing with all ancillary issues is a hard road to navigate alone. Our practice is focused on guiding you through the obstacles of divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment. Langworthy Law Office has a solid reputation of providing outstanding services with vast knowledge in these areas.

Custody & Child Support

When navigating issues of child custody and child support, you want an attorney who has you and your child’s best interest in mind.

We understand that child custody may be the most important issue in your case. Parents play the most important role in the life of their child and it is important to protect your parent-child relationship. In Kansas, the court must determine legal custody, residency, and parenting time for a minor child in accordance with the best interest of the child. Legal custody defines the decision making powers of and between the parents related to the minor child. Residential custody is where the child lives. It can be primarily with one parent or shared equally by both parents. Parenting Time is simply the time each parent spends with the minor child.

We encourage our clients to take a proactive and common-sense approach to negotiating a parenting plan that is in the best interest of their child. Parenting agreements reached by the parties are presumed to be in the child’s best interest. When the parties cannot reach agreement, the court must step in and make a determination of what custodial arrangement is in the best interest of the child. Kansas law sets forth eighteen (18) minimum factors that the court must consider in determining issues of legal custody, residency, and parenting time. The Court has continuing jurisdiction over child custody until the minor child attain the age of 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later.

Regardless of the type of custodial arrangement ordered in your case, the court may order the child support and education expenses be paid by either or both parties. Typically, the parent without primary residential custody pays child support. In determining the amount of child support, the court is required to follow the Kansas child support guidelines. These guidelines can be confusing and overwhelming given the multiple formulas, adjustments, and considerations available to the parties. The Court has continuing jurisdiction over child support until a minor child attends the age of 18 or graduate from high school, whichever is later.

Langworthy Law Office is skilled in all aspects of child custody and child support, whether you are in the mist of your initial marital dissolution action or seeking modification.

Property Division & Spousal Support

In all dissolution of marriage actions, the Court is mandated to divide the marital estate of the parties in a just and equitable manner. The marital estate includes all real and personal property of the parties, including any retirement and pension plans. We believe it is always in the best interest of our clients to negotiate a settlement of the marital estate, but if that is not possible, the Court will order a division. Kansas law directs the minimum factors for the court to consider in dividing the marital estate. A big part of dividing the marital estate is assigning the proper value to each asset and calculating all necessary adjustments, including tax consequences. Whether you are dealing with division of large assets including businesses, investments, and/or real estate, or dealing with little or no assets, we have the knowledge and experience to help you obtain the best and most advantageous property division.

In Kansas, spousal support is discretionary with the court. Any award must be fair, just and equitable under all of the circumstances of your particular case. Kansas case law provides some guidance on what the court should consider in awarding spousal maintenance. If spousal maintenance is ordered, it typically ends after a specified number of months or when either spouse dies or the recipient spouse remarries.

Langworthy Law Office is skilled and knowledgeable in the areas of property valuation, property division, and spousal support and will fight for your best possible outcome.

Step-Parent Adoption

The step-parent adoption process is generally more streamlined than other forms of adoption, but can still be complex. The following is a list of questions frequently asked by step-parents considering adopting their stepchildren.

How does the step-parent adoption process proceed?
Do I need the consent of an absent, uninvolved parent?
How long does the step-parent adoption process take?
What if my step-child does not want the adoption to go forward?

We have the knowledge and experience to answer these and all of your questions. Each situation is different and we have helped many families navigate the process for a happy and successful step-parent adoption.

Paternity

With a number of children being born to unmarried parents, paternity actions are necessary to protect both the child’s and the parents’ rights, including the right to parentage and for support. In Kansas, married couples are legally established the parents of a child born during the marriage. This is not true for unmarried parents as the legal status of the father is quite different. A paternity action can be filed at any time by either the biological mother or father. It is important to remember that the establishment of paternity is merely the first step to establish the rights and obligations of biological parents. Once paternity has been established, whether by agreement or trial, the court can make additional orders for child custody, residency, parenting time and child support.

We are knowledgeable and experienced in all aspects of paternity actions whether you are the mother trying to establish legal and financial responsibility for the child or the father trying to obtain legal rights and responsibility for the care and custody of the child.

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