General Office Information:
The Office of the Court Trustee is located on the 6th floor of the Sedgwick County Courthouse at
525 N. Main, Wichita, Kansas.
Office hours are 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday. You may call our office at
(316) 660-5909. We accept phone calls during regular business hours. Any call not answered immediately will be returned within 24 hours. Our fax number is (316) 660-1039. You may also
e-mail the Court Trustee's office atnivd@dc18.orgwith your questions and a response will be returned to you on the next business day.
The role of the Court Trustee attorney in child support cases is to act in the public interest to make sure parents, not the state, are the ones that support their children.
NON IVD Program:
Any case filed after February 1, 1996 and is not referred under the Federal IVD program falls under this category. Under the Non-IVD program 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. The Kansas Payment Center disburses payments within 48 hours. A District Court Trustee fee, currently set at 3.5% 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.
Emancipation (NON IVD):
In Non IVD 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 get a letter from their school and an expected date of graduation and a statement from the custodial parent as to why the child will not be graduating on time and whether or not the non custodial parent was aware of the situation. Unless we receive these documents 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 child is emancipated. When the last child is emancipated, the case will close unless there is still an arrearage owed.
The court may order child support to be paid for any child less than 18 years of age. Child support terminates once the child reaches the age of 18 unless 1) the parent(s) agree, by written agreement approved by the court, to pay support beyond the time the child reaches 18 years of age; or 2) the child reaches 18 years of age before completing high school in which case the support shall not terminate automatically, unless otherwise ordered by the court, until June 30 of the school year during which the child becomes 18 years old and the child is still attending high school; or 3) the child is still a bona fide high school student after June 30 of the school year during which the child became 18 years old, in which case the court, on motion, may order support to continue through the school year during which the child becomes 19 years old as long as the child is a bona fide high school student and the parents jointly participated or knowingly acquiesced in the decision which delayed the child’s completion of high school.
See K.S.A. 60-1610(a)(1) for more information on Kansas law regarding emancipation.
Modification of orders:
The office of the Court Trustee only enforces the last order on file for child support enforcement. The NIVD Court Trustee office does not modify child support orders due to changes in custody or wages. The NIVD Court Trustee does not enforce Medical orders unless there is a judgement for an amount owed signed by a judge.
If an oblige or obligor is seeking a modification of child support they may contact a private attorney or complete pro se paperwork which is available on the 4th floor at the pro se help center.
After completion of all required paperwork the family law department on the 4th floor will give you a court date to have your request heard.
Order to Appear:
The Court Trustee may file a contempt accusation against an obligor who does not make support payments as ordered by the court. A 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 a District Court Judge on the date specified in the Order to Appear for a hearing on the Court Trustee’s Accusation in Contempt. The hearing takes place in the courtroom on the 7th 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 due to the fact possible jail time may be imposed if found in contempt. Obligor can apply for and may qualify for court-appointed counsel. The Judge, 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 for arrearage, orders for income withholding, and instructing the obligor to seek employment. The Judge usually orders the obligor to reappear before the Court at a later date to review compliance with the orders.
If the obligor has been personally served with an Order to Appear and fails to appear before the Judge, or if the obligor disregards an order to reappear for a review hearing, a bench warrant will be issued for his or her arrest.
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.
