Last amended July 1, 2010 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceK.S.A. 60-222 lets a plaintiff or defendant facing competing claims to the same money or property force the claimants to interplead, allows a party holding disputed money or property to disclaim interest in its answer, and directs the court to manage safekeeping, notice, and realignment of the parties.
(1)By a plaintiff. Persons with claims that may expose a plaintiff to double or multiple liability may be joined as defendants and required to interplead. Joinder for interpleader is proper even though:
(A)The claims of the several claimants, or the titles on which their claims depend, lack a common origin or are adverse and independent rather than identical; or
(B)the plaintiff denies liability in whole or in part to any or all of the claimants.
(2)By a defendant. A defendant exposed to similar liability may seek interpleader through a crossclaim or counterclaim.
(A)Another person, without collusion with the party, has a claim or has made a claim to money or property in the party's possession; and
(B)the party is ready to pay or dispose of the money or property as the court orders.
(2)The court may issue an order for the safekeeping, including the payment or deposit in court or the delivery to a custodian, of the money or property. The court may issue an order requiring the person to appear at a specific time and assert or relinquish a claim against the money or property. A copy of the order must be served on the person in the manner provided for service of summons in article 3 of chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated.
(3)If the person fails to appear at the specified time, the court may bar any claim by the person to the money or property. If the person appears and asserts a claim against the money or property, the court must discharge the party from all liability with respect to the money or property upon the party's deposit or delivery of the money or property as ordered by the court. The court must realign the remaining parties as their interests appear.
(c)Application. The provisions of this section supplement and do not in any way limit the joinder of parties permitted in K.S.A. 60-220, and amendments thereto.
Amendment History
L. 1963, ch. 303, 60-222; L. 2010, ch. 135, § 89; July 1.
Plain-English Summary
Subsection (a)(1) lets a plaintiff join, as defendants, persons whose claims might expose the plaintiff to double or multiple liability, and require them to interplead -- sort out among themselves who's entitled to the money or property. That joinder is proper even if the claimants' claims, or the titles behind them, share no common origin and are adverse and independent of each other rather than identical, and even if the plaintiff denies liability, in whole or in part, to some or all of the claimants. Subsection (a)(2) lets a defendant facing the same kind of exposure seek interpleader too, through a crossclaim or counterclaim.
Subsection (b) covers the disclaiming version of interpleader, raised through a party's answer. That answer can plead that someone else, without collusion with the pleading party, has a claim or has made a claim to money or property in that party's possession, and that the party is ready to pay or dispose of it however the court orders. Once that's pled, the court can order the money or property safeguarded -- through payment or deposit into court, or delivery to a custodian -- and can order the outside claimant to appear at a specific time to assert or give up any claim. That order has to be served on the claimant the same way a summons is served under article 3 of chapter 60.
Subsection (b)(3) tells the court what to do depending on what the claimant does next. If the person fails to appear at the time set, the court can bar any claim by that person to the money or property. If the person does appear and asserts a claim, the court must discharge the pleading party from all liability regarding the money or property once that party deposits or delivers it as ordered, and the court must then realign the remaining parties according to their actual interests. Subsection (c) makes clear this interpleader procedure supplements, and doesn't limit, the party-joinder rules already available under K.S.A. 60-220.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is interpleader under Kansas law?
It's a procedure in subsection (a) that lets a plaintiff join competing claimants as defendants and require them to interplead when their claims could expose the plaintiff to double or multiple liability, even if the claims share no common origin or are adverse to one another.
Can a defendant use interpleader too, not just a plaintiff?
Yes. Subsection (a)(2) lets a defendant facing similar exposure to multiple liability seek interpleader through a crossclaim or counterclaim.
How do I disclaim interest in disputed money or property I'm holding?
Subsection (b)(1) lets a party plead in its answer that someone else, without collusion, has made a claim to the money or property in that party's possession, and that the party is ready to pay or dispose of it as the court orders.
What happens if the outside claimant doesn't show up when the court orders them to?
Subsection (b)(3) allows the court to bar any claim by that person to the money or property if they fail to appear at the specified time.
Once I hand over the disputed money or property, am I free of the lawsuit?
Subsection (b)(3) requires the court to discharge the party from all liability regarding the money or property once it's deposited or delivered as ordered, and the court then realigns the remaining parties according to their interests.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from the
Kansas Statutes Annotated, enacted by the Kansas Legislature. Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:kansas interpleader rule60-222 kansas civil procedureinterpleader competing claims kansasdisclaiming interest in disputed property kansaskansas stakeholder lawsuit multiple claimants