Legal Question in Family Law in Kansas

Your husband was served with paternity papers. He had an opportunity to contest paternity, but he chose not to do so because he was busy. His chance to determine whether he is actually the child's father has probably expired; he would have to request a court hearing on that issue.

In addition, the legally determined father has not stepped forward to support the child by offering to have the child live with him. The fact that the child is not a part of the father's life is never a one-sided decision. There is no evidence in your question that the father has ever requested court assistance to have the child become part of the father's life. Moreover, the fact that a parent does not have parenting time with a child does not affect every parent's legal and moral duty to financially support their minor children.

Under Kansas law, parents have the duty to support their children until each child is age 18 and out of high school, or the child has been legally emancipated. That is good public policy, because we do not want parents to neglect their minor children. If a parent has a legal duty to support a minor child, it follows that a parent cannot, by simply signing a piece of paper, terminate his or her own parental rights. That would be similar to divorcing a child. A parent cannot voluntarily make a child an orphan. If a parent were allowed to sign away parental rights to avoid supporting a child, then many so-called "deadbeat" parents would do it. Who would take care of those children? The burden would fall to the State. It would be unacceptable public policy for a State to allow a parent to voluntarily walk away from a minor child.

Even when the State of Kansas, through the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) receives a child, or the State must take a child out of a home for whatever reason, it is still both parents' legal obligation to financially support the minor child. Kansas law makes it the responsibility of SRS to file a court action to enforce the duty of a parent to support the child, and both parents should be required to pay child support through the State.