Kansas Statutes

Chapter 23: Domestic Relations

Article 2: Married Persons

Statutes:

• 23-201: Married persons; separate property; marital property.
• 23-202: Conveyances and contracts concerning property.
• 23-203: Sue and be sued.
• 23-204: Married person may carry on trade or business; earnings.
• 23-205: Loss or impairment of services; right of action.
• 23-206: Rights of persons married out of state.
• 23-207: Marriage settlements or contracts.
• 23-208: Alienation of affections actions abolished.

• 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.

        History:   G.S. 1868, ch. 62, § 1; R.S. 1923, 23-201; L. 1976, ch. 172, § 1; L. 1978, ch. 134, § 1; L. 1981, ch. 159, § 1; L. 1987, ch. 120, § 1; L. 1998, ch. 162, § 1; July 1.

• 23-202: Conveyances and contracts concerning property. A married person, while the marriage relation subsists, may bargain, sell and convey his or her real and personal property and enter into any contract.

        History:   G.S. 1868, ch. 62, § 2; R.S. 1923, 23-202; L. 1976, ch. 172, § 2; July 1.

• 23-203: Sue and be sued. A person may, while married, sue and be sued in the same manner as if he or she were unmarried.

        History:   G.S. 1868, ch. 62, § 3; R.S. 1923, 23-203; L. 1976, ch. 172, § 3; July 1.

• 23-204: Married person may carry on trade or business; earnings. Any married person may carry on any trade or business, and perform any labor or services, on his or her sole and separate account; and the earnings of any married person from his or her trade, business, labor or services shall be his or her sole and separate property, and may be used and invested by him or her in his or her own name.

        History:   G.S. 1868, ch. 62, § 4; R.S. 1923, 23-204; L. 1976, ch. 172, § 4; July 1.

• 23-205: Loss or impairment of services; right of action. Where, through the wrong of another, a married person shall sustain personal injuries causing the loss or impairment of his or her ability to perform services, the right of action to recover damages for such loss or impairment shall vest solely in such person, and any recovery therefor, so far as it is based upon the loss or impairment of his or her ability to perform services in the household and in the discharge of his or her domestic duties, shall be for the benefit of such person's spouse so far as he or she shall be entitled thereto. Nothing herein shall in any way affect the right of the spouse to recover damages for the wrongful death of his or her spouse.

        History:   L. 1921, ch. 177, § 1; R.S. 1923, 23-205; L. 1976, ch. 172, § 5; July 1.

• 23-206: Rights of persons married out of state. Any person who shall have been married out of this state, shall, if the spouse afterward becomes a resident of this state, enjoy all the rights as to property which he or she may have acquired by the laws of any other state, territory or country, or which he or she may have acquired by virture of any marriage contract or settlement made out of this state.

        History:   G.S. 1868, ch. 62, § 5; R.S. 1923, 22-206; L. 1976, ch. 172, § 6; July 1.

• 23-207: Marriage settlements or contracts. Nothing in this act contained shall invalidate any marriage settlement or contract now made or to be hereafter made.

        History:   G.S. 1868, ch. 62, § 6; Oct. 31; R.S. 1923, 23-207.

• 23-208: Alienation of affections actions abolished. There shall be no right to bring an action in this state to recover damages for alienation of affections based on any act done on or after July 1, 1982.

        History:   L. 1982, ch. 240, § 1; July 1.