Kansas

JURISDICTIONAL END OF MARRIAGE DATE: Date of Filing of the Divorce Petition. If there is no Petition use current date.

STATE TYPE FOR PENSION EVALUATION: Kansas is an "equitable distribution" state. Kansas is an equitable distribution state. This means that the court will divide the marital property between the parties as it deems equitable and just, after setting aside to each spouse the separate property of each. Some of the factors the court considers in dividing the property between the parties include:

1. The age of the parties 2. The duration of the marriage 3. The property owned be the parties 4. The parties present and future earning capacities 5. The time, source and manner of acquisition of the property 6. Family ties and obligations 7. The allowance of maintenance or lack thereof 8. Dissipation of assets 9. The tax consequences of the parties 10. Other such factors the court considers necessary for just and equitable distribution of property.

[Kansas Statutes Annotated; Chapter 60, Article 16, Subject 1610].

KAN. STAT. ANN. § 23-201

Married persons; separate property; marital property.

(a) The property, real and personal, which any person in this state may own at the time of the person's marriage, and the rents, issues, profits or proceeds thereof, and any real, personal or mixed property which shall come to a person by descent, devise or bequest, and the rents, issues, profits or proceeds thereof, or by gift from any person except the person's spouse, shall remain the person's sole and separate property, notwithstanding the marriage, and not be subject to the disposal of the person's spouse or liable for the spouse's debts.

(b) All property owned by married persons, including the present value of any vested or unvested military retirement pay, or, for divorce or separate maintenance actions commenced on or after July 1, 1998, professional goodwill to the extent that it is marketable for that particular professional, whether described in subsection (a) or acquired by either spouse after marriage, and whether held individually or by the spouses in some form of co-ownership, such as joint tenancy or tenancy in common, shall become marital property at the time of commencement by one spouse against the other of an action in which a final decree is entered for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment. Each spouse has a common ownership in marital property which vests at the time of commencement of such action, the extent of the vested interest to be determined and finalized by the court, pursuant to K.S.A. 60-1610 and amendments thereto.

KAN. STAT. ANN. § 60-1610

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b) Financial matters. (1) Division of property. The decree shall divide the real and personal property of the parties, including any retirement and pension plans, whether owned by either spouse prior to marriage, acquired by either spouse in the spouse's own right after marriage or acquired by the spouses' joint efforts, by: (A) a division of the property in kind; (B) awarding the property or part of the property to one of the spouses and requiring the other to pay a just and proper sum; or (C) ordering a sale of the property, under conditions prescribed by the court, and dividing the proceeds of the sale. Upon request, the trial court shall set a valuation date to be used for all assets at trial, which may be the date of separation, filing or trial as the facts and circumstances of the case may dictate. The trial court may consider evidence regarding changes in value of various assets before and after the valuation date in making the division of property. In dividing defined-contribution types of retirement and pension plans, the court shall allocate profits and losses on the nonparticipant's portion until date of distribution to that nonparticipant. In making the division of property the court shall consider the age of the parties; the duration of the marriage; the property owned by the parties; their present and future earning capacities; the time, source and manner of acquisition of property; family ties and obligations; the allowance of maintenance or lack thereof; dissipation of assets; the tax consequences of the property division upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties; and such other factors as the court considers necessary to make a just and reasonable division of property. The decree shall provide for any changes in beneficiary designation on: (A) An by the parties, or in the case of group life insurance policies, under which either of the parties is a covered person; (B) any trust instrument under which one party is the grantor or holds a power of appointment over part or all of the trust assets, that may be exercised in favor of either party; or (C) any transfer on death or payable on death account under which one or both of the parties are owners or beneficiaries. Nothing in this section shall relieve the parties of the obligation to effectuate any change in beneficiary designation by the filing of such change with the insurer or issuer in accordance with the terms of such policy.

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(3) Separation agreement. If the parties have entered into a separation agreement which the court finds to be valid, just and equitable, the agreement shall be incorporated in the decree. A separation agreement may include provisions relating to a parenting plan. The provisions of the agreement on all matters settled by it shall be confirmed in the decree except that any provisions relating to the legal custody, residency, visitation parenting time, support or education of the minor children shall be subject to the control of the court in accordance with all other provisions of this article. Matters settled by an agreement incorporated in the decree, other than matters pertaining to the legal custody, residency, visitation, parenting time, support or education of the minor children, shall not be subject to subsequent modification by the court except: (A) As prescribed by the agreement or (B) as subsequently consented to by the parties.

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