Can a step-parent be ordered to support a stepchild?
Children Act, 2022 · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Yes. The Children's Court can order a step-parent to maintain their spouse's child whom they have accepted as a child of the family, even without adopting the child. The court looks at things like whether, and for how long, the step-parent supported the child and whether they knew the child was not theirs.
- Where
- The Children's Court, at any magistrate's court
Steps
- A parent, guardian or custodian of the child can apply to the Children's Court for a maintenance order.
- File at the magistrate's court near you: all magistrate's courts handle children matters.
Watch out
- The court weighs whether the step-parent took on the child's upkeep knowing the child was not theirs.
- The child's own parents still have a joint duty to maintain the child, married or not.
- The court also considers who else is liable to maintain the child.
Who this covers
- A child of one partner who has been accepted as a child of the family
- Step-parents: a person married to the child's biological mother or father
Official sources (3)
- Children Act, 2022 (No. 29 of 2022) childrenservices.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Magistrate Courts judiciary.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Children Act, No. 29 of 2022 new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026