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K.S.A. 23-3203 — Kansas Custody, Residency and Parenting Time Factors

TL;DR. K.S.A. 23-3203 codifies the statutory factors a Kansas court must consider in determining legal custody, residency, and parenting time of a minor child. The factor list is non-exhaustive ("including, but not limited to") and includes a friendly-parent factor at subsection (a)(8): "the willingness and ability of each parent to respect and appreciate the bond between the child and the other parent and to allow for a continuing relationship between the child and the other parent" — the canonical Kansas statutory anchor for parental-alienation-relevant analysis.

Source: Kansas Legislature — published verbatim under public-domain status of Kansas state statutes. · Fetched: 2026-06-13 · License: CC BY 4.0 for editorial commentary; statute itself public domain

Full statutory text (verbatim)

(a) In determining the issue of legal custody, residency and parenting time of a child, the court shall consider all relevant factors, including, but not limited to:

(1) Each parent's role and involvement with the minor child before and after separation;

(2) the desires of the child's parents as to custody or residency;

(3) the desires of a child of sufficient age and maturity as to the child's custody or residency;

(4) the age of the child;

(5) the emotional and physical needs of the child;

(6) the interaction and interrelationship of the child with parents, siblings and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests;

(7) the child's adjustment to the child's home, school and community;

(8) the willingness and ability of each parent to respect and appreciate the bond between the child and the other parent and to allow for a continuing relationship between the child and the other parent;

(9) evidence of domestic abuse, including, but not limited to:

(A) A pattern or history of physically or emotionally abusive behavior or threat thereof used by one person to gain or maintain domination and control over an intimate partner or household member; or

(B) an act of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault;

(10) the ability of the parties to communicate, cooperate and manage parental duties;

(11) the school activity schedule of the child;

(12) the work schedule of the parties;

(13) the location of the parties' residences and places of employment;

(14) the location of the child's school;

(15) whether a parent is subject to the registration requirements of the Kansas offender registration act, K.S.A. 22-4901 et seq., and amendments thereto, or any similar act in any other state, or under military or federal law;

(16) whether a parent has been convicted of abuse of a child, K.S.A. 21-3609, prior to its repeal, or K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5602, and amendments thereto;

(17) whether a parent is residing with an individual who is subject to registration requirements of the Kansas offender registration act, K.S.A. 22-4901 et seq., and amendments thereto, or any similar act in any other state, or under military or federal law; and

(18) whether a parent is residing with an individual who has been convicted of abuse of a child, K.S.A. 21-3609, prior to its repeal, or K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5602, and amendments thereto.

(b) To aid in determining the issue of legal custody, residency and parenting time of a child, the court may order a parent to undergo a domestic violence offender assessment conducted by a certified batterer intervention program and may order such parent to follow all recommendations made by such program.

History: L. 2011, ch. 26, § 20; L. 2014, ch. 116, § 9; L. 2016, ch. 102, § 7; L. 2017, ch. 58, § 2; July 1.

Why this statute matters for parental-alienation analysis

The friendly-parent factor at K.S.A. 23-3203(a)(8) — "the willingness and ability of each parent to respect and appreciate the bond between the child and the other parent and to allow for a continuing relationship between the child and the other parent" — is the canonical Kansas statutory hook for parental-alienation-relevant evidence in custody disputes. Conduct that obstructs, denigrates, or otherwise interferes with the child's relationship with the other parent is directly addressable under this factor without the court needing to adopt or reject "parental alienation" as a doctrinal label.

The factor sits within a comprehensive non-exhaustive list (the "including, but not limited to" framing in subsection (a)) — courts retain discretion to consider any other relevant factor, which gives Kansas judges substantial flexibility to address PA-pattern conduct, alienating communications, contact obstruction, and gatekeeping behaviour as part of the best-interests analysis without statutory codification of PA-specific doctrine.

The explicit domestic-abuse provisions at (a)(9) (including the pattern-of-emotional-abuse-to-maintain-control formulation at (a)(9)(A)) and the offender-registration factors at (a)(15)-(a)(18) ensure that legitimate safety concerns retain primacy over friendly-parent considerations — Kansas does not allow the friendly-parent factor to override documented abuse evidence.

Cross-references within the AntiAlienate Knowledge Base

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