KANSAS BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Kansas Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT
· UBE state · two-day exam: 2 MPT + 6 MEE on the written day, 200-question MBE on the other · weighting MBE 50% / MEE 30% / MPT 20% · single portable score, max 400 · minimum passing 266 · MPRE required · no separate Kansas-law exam · MEE/MPT are NCBE-drafted national law (UCC, FRCP, FRE, ABA Model Rules) · essays test national law unless a Kansas instruction appears — never volunteer a Kansas rule.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE & LIMITATIONS
· Kansas Code of Civil Procedure (K.S.A. ch. 60), modeled on the FRCP, governs state court (MEE CivPro is federal) · SOL (K.S.A. 60-511 et seq.): written contract 5 yrs, oral 3 yrs, personal injury/trespass/property damage 2 yrs, fraud 2 yrs from discovery, foreign judgment/recovery of realty up to 15 yrs · discovery rule for many torts BUT capped by a 10-yr statute of repose (60-513(b)) — bars suit 10 yrs after the act regardless of discovery.
3. EVIDENCE
· NOT FRE numbering — Kansas Rules of Evidence codified in K.S.A. ch. 60, Article 4 (derived from the older Uniform Rules of Evidence) · hearsay exceptions consolidated in 60-460 (categorical list, not the 803/804 format) · prior crimes under 60-455, character under 60-447 (rough analogues to FRE 404/405) · statutory physician-patient, psychotherapist-patient, attorney-client, marital privileges in ch. 60 · FRE-like RESULTS, differently worded — cite Kansas statutes in practice · default to FRE on the MEE; the trap is assuming FRE numbering.
4. CONTRACTS
· Tracks national common law + UCC (K.S.A. ch. 84) · bargained-for consideration required · no civil-law "cause," no lesion (contrast Louisiana) · conventional Statute of Frauds (K.S.A. 33-106) · no exam-significant divergence — the national rule is the Kansas rule.
5. FAMILY LAW
· Equitable distribution, NOT community property (K.S.A. 23-2801 et seq.) · distinctively treats ALL property — including premarital AND inherited/gifted — as part of the divisible marital estate at marriage/acquisition, then divides justly and reasonably on statutory factors (age, duration, earning capacity, dissipation) · common-law marriage STILL recognized (capacity + present agreement + public holding out) · maintenance with a general statutory durational ceiling · best-interests custody.
6. WILLS & ESTATES
· Will = writing + signature (or at direction, in testator's presence) + 2 competent witnesses (K.S.A. 59-606) · NO holographic wills · augmented-estate spousal elective share (UPC-influenced, sliding scale keyed to marriage length) — NOT a flat 1/3 fractional share · spouse takes entire estate if no descendants, shares with descendants otherwise.
7. REAL PROPERTY
· Notice recording (K.S.A. 58-