Mission Statement:
Working together to provide effective,
progressive support enforcement
for America's families
The office of the Court Trustee is located on the 7th floor of the County Courthouse and has a staff of 41 employees. The head of the department is District Court Trustee Joy Kay Williams.
The Office of the Sedgwick County, Kansas District Court Trustee was established on June 26, 1985, by the Judges of the Eighteenth Judicial District to maximize and modernize the collection, disbursement and enforcement of child support. The need for a strong, effective program to accomplish this important task had become apparent with the passage of the Federal Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 and 1985 Kansas legislation implementing the amendments.
Many other judicial districts in the State of Kansas realize success in the area of family support by using Court Trustees. Other states have similar programs. Kansas law has always made it clear that the duty to provide support for children is very real and meaningful.
In Sedgwick County, all orders for payment of child support, except temporary orders, are assigned to the Office of the District Court Trustee for monitoring and enforcement unless a "good cause exception" is granted by the Administrative Judge. Unless the Court authorizes another method of paying child support, the Court Trustee will prepare an income withholding order to help ensure payment.
The Kansas Payment Center disburses payments within 48 hours. A District Court Trustee fee, currently set at 2.5% of the support collected, is retained to defray the expenses of operating the office. The Kansas Child Support Guidelines now allow an adjustment of the child support award so that each parent pays approximately half of the Court Trustee fee.
The Court Trustee acts upon written request of a person owed support or upon order of the Court. He is authorized to pursue all civil remedies in enforcing the payment of support. This includes processing cases in which the parent obligated to provide child support resides in another state. The Court Trustee may also, if appropriate, file motions to increase child support.
The Court Trustee’s Office is located on the 7th Floor (West) of the Sedgwick County Courthouse in Wichita, Kansas. Office hours are 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday. You may call our office at (316)660-5833. We monitor incoming calls and will return calls the same day if possible. Our fax number is (316)660-5760. You may also e-mail the Court Trustee's office at ct@dc18.org with your questions and a response will be returned to you on the next business day.
The office has state of the art computer equipment and a new document imaging system which allow real time access to case records and documents. We monitor over 18,000 active cases and provide child support enforcement services in over 2,000 new cases each year.
The Kansas Payment Center (KPC) accepts checks and money orders. In the event a personal check is returned for any reason, a $30.00 non-sufficient fund charge will be assessed and all future support payments must be made by money order, bank draft or cashier’s check. Do not send cash. Please make your check or money order payable to the Kansas Payment Center. Include your social security number, court order number including county identifier, (example: SG88D 123456) and Personal Identification Number (PIN) found on the Redirect Notice. Payments should be mailed to:
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Kansas Payment Center PO Box 758599 Topeka, KS 66675-8599 |
If your payments are made through income withholding, your employer will be given information as to where to send payments. You will not need to mail in a check yourself.
If you have any questions, please contact the Kansas Payment Center at 1-877-KPC-KPCC.
The Kansas Payment Center has an interactive voice response system which provides a variety of information and is updated daily.
The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is operational 24 hours per day, seven days per week. This system allows you to check on payments by calling 1-877-KPC-KPCC. Customer Service Representatives are able to answer your questions Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Time, except for holidays. Payment records may also be viewed on line at www.kspaycenter.com.
Call IVR to find out about a payment: 1-877-KPC-KPCC (1-877-572-5722)
The Office of the Court Trustee contracts with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), which administers the federal IV-D (child support) program in Kansas. Participation in this program means that additional enforcement tools are available.
There is no charge to enroll in the program, but you must complete an application form. The form may be obtained by contacting the Court Trustee’s Office.
Some of the additional benefits of participating in this program include interception of state and federal income tax refunds to collect past due support, interception of unemployment compensation to collect child support, reporting delinquent child support to credit bureaus, assistance in locating absent parents, and the ability to file for interstate enforcement if a delinquent parent resides in another state.
Kansas law provides that after July 1, 1993, all new or modified orders for support shall provide for immediate issuance of an income withholding order. The District Court Trustee is charged with the responsibility of implementing income withholding in Sedgwick County and ensuring its success. Since use of this remedy results in regular child support payments for as long as the obligor remains at one place of employment, it is the remedy of choice. The Court Trustee sends an income withholding order to the obligor’s employer or other payor of income. The employer or income payor withholds money from the obligor’s paycheck or income source in accordance with the support order and forwards it to the Kansas Payment Center for disbursement to the obligee. An obligor can sign a voluntary request for income withholding by contacting the Clerk of the District Court, Family Law Department, or the Court Trustee’s Office.
The employer receives instructions from the Court Trustee to start withholding during the first pay period 14 days after being served with the withholding order. The employer has 7 business days from the pay date to send money withheld to the Kansas Payment Center. Therefore, it takes approximately 1 month to 6 weeks before the employer sends in the first payment. During the time before withholding actually begins, the obligor is responsible for making all payments as they become due.
The income withholding order requires an employer to send in a designated amount of money each month but limits the amount which the employer sends in to from 50% to 65% of the obligor’s net disposable earnings. The normal limit will be 50%. This protects obligors whose wages vary because of weather, illness, or other factors and insures that the obligor will be left with income to live on.
The Court Trustee may file a contempt accusation against an obligor who does not make support payments as ordered by the Court. A Court Trustee investigator or process server serves an Accusation in Contempt and Order to Appear on an obligor who resides in Sedgwick or a neighboring county. If the obligor resides in a distant county, the Court Trustee’s Office sends the documents to the Sheriff of that county for service. The Court Trustee also sends notice to the obligee of the date the obligor is ordered to appear for a hearing. It usually takes 4-6 weeks to get the obligor before the Court for a contempt hearing.
The obligor appears before the Hearing Officer on the date specified in the Order to Appear for a hearing on the Court Trustee’s Accusation in Contempt. The expedited hearing takes place in one of the courtrooms on the 4th Floor of the Sedgwick County Courthouse. Also appearing will be a deputy court trustee who will represent the interests of the State of Kansas. The obligee is always encouraged to attend the hearing.
The obligor has a right to counsel at contempt hearings, and may qualify for court-appointed counsel. The Hearing Officer, after hearing statements from the deputy court trustee and the obligor or obligor’s attorney, enters appropriate orders. These include ordering the obligor to make additional payments to liquidate arrearage, orders for income withholding, and instructing the obligor to seek employment. The Hearing Officer usually orders the obligor to reappear before the Court at a later date to review compliance with the orders.
If the obligor is found guilty of contempt of court for not complying with the support order, he or she is usually placed on probation and referred to the Venture House Support for Children Program. This program not only monitors the obligor’s compliance with the probation but also provides assistance to the obligor in finding employment and services which enhance parenting skills and stress emotional as well as financial support for children.
In a serious case, the Court may also restrict the driving privileges of one found in contempt for not paying child support or impose a jail sentence.
If the obligor has been personally served with an Order to Appear and fails to appear before the Hearing Officer, or if the obligor disregards an order to reappear for a review hearing, a bench warrant may issue for his or her arrest.
If a delinquent obligor resides outside the state and is not subject to an income withholding order, a Contempt Accusation and Order to Appear in Court in Sedgwick County is usually ineffective. In such a case, the Court Trustee can initiate interstate action under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA). The Court Trustee sends copies of the support order and payment information to an enforcement agency in the other state and asks that the support order be registered there for enforcement only. The enforcement agency in what is called the responding jurisdiction then uses whatever enforcement remedies it has available to collect the child support owed. The support paid by the obligor in the other state is forwarded by the support enforcement agency or clerk of court to the Kansas Payment Center for distribution to the Obligee. While an interstate action can be initiated rather quickly by the Court Trustee’s Office, it usually takes from 6 to 8 weeks after filing before enforcement action is taken in the other state.
The Court Trustee has an array of other enforcement tools available to collect delinquent child support. Among these are garnishment, attachment, execution, real and personal property liens, filing liens in civil actions and obtaining an involuntary allotment of a portion of a workers compensation award.
An obligee seeking an increase in child support may either contact a private attorney or apply to the Court Trustee. Upon request, the Court Trustee’s Office will send a "modification packet" to the obligee. The packet consists of a modification questionnaire and child care statement. The obligee returns these completed documents with copies of pay stubs and documentation of the cost of health insurance. After income and health insurance information concerning the obligor is obtained, the case is evaluated under the Kansas Child Support Guidelines and a determination made as to whether an increase in child support may be warranted. If an increase in child support appears to be warranted, the Court Trustee will prepare a domestic relations affidavit. After the obligee signs the domestic relations affidavit, the Court Trustee files a motion to increase child support.
The court date for a hearing on the motion to increase child support is usually 5-6 weeks after the filing of the motion.
An obligor seeking a decrease in child support may either contact a private attorney or complete pro se paperwork which is available in the Clerk’s office on the 7th Floor of the Sedgwick County Courthouse. The pro se applicant must file a motion, a completed domestic relations affidavit, and make sure that notice of the hearing is sent to the obligee and the obligee’s attorney. If the Court Trustee is already involved in the case, notice must also be sent to the Court Trustee’s Office.
The court date for a hearing on a motion to decrease child support is usually 10-14 days after the filing of the motion.
In Court Trustee cases, the Court Trustee mails letters to custodial parents a month or two before a child’s 18th birthday. At this time, we ask that you send certification of attendance if a child is still in high school. Unless we receive this certification, we will no longer enforce a child support order for that child after the child’s 18th birthday (unless the parties have agreed otherwise and the agreement has been approved by the court).
The Kansas school year runs from July 1st until June 30th. If a child is still in high school on his or her 18th birthday, in most cases child support will continue until June 30th of that year.
Unless the child support order directs otherwise, child support orders decrease proportionately as each chid is emancipated. When the last child is emancipated, the case will close unless there is still an arrearage owed.
See K.S.A. 60-1610(a)(1) for more information on Kansas law regarding emancipation.
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Kansas Child Support Guidelines
How do I file a paternity case?
You may either contact a private attorney or the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. The Wichita Area SRS office can be reached at (316)337-6585.
How do I find out the balance I owe in child support?
If your case is a Court Trustee case, contact the Court Trustee’s Office by phone. If we are unable to advise you of your balance right away, we will calculate your arrearage and report it to you.
How do I obtain a child support lien release so that I can sell or purchase real estate?
If your case is a Court Trustee case, contact the Court Trustee’s Office by phone. Please do this at least 1 week before the date of closing the real estate transaction. You will usually be required to pay all past due child support and interest before we will prepare the lien release.
How do I report a change of address?
An obligee (person receiving payments) must report the change in writing, by mail or fax. Simply send a note to our office. Your signature, the case number, the names of the payor and payee and an effective date are required.
The obligor (person making the payments) may report the change in writing or by phone.
How do I transfer an income withholding order to a new employer?
An obligee or obligor should report the change of employment to the Court Trustee’s Office in writing, by mail or fax. Your signature, the case number, an effective date and the name and address of the new employer are required. If the case is a Court Trustee case, the Court Trustee’s Office will send a notice of withholding to the new employer within 2 working days.
How long does my child support obligation continue?
If the support order was entered in Kansas, child support continues until the child’s 18th birthday if the child is no longer in school (unless the parties have agreed otherwise and the agreement has been approved by the court). If the child is still in high school, child support continues until June 30 of the school year in which the child reaches age 18. A school year in Kansas runs from July 1st to June 30th. If a support order is entered in another state, the other state’s age of majority may govern.
Where can I get a copy of my payment record?
Records of support payments are kept by the Clerk of the District Court, Support Division. This office is on the 7th Floor of the Sedgwick County Courthouse. There is a copy charge of $.25 per sheet. Payment records may also be viewed online at www.kspaycenter.com.