A divorce in Arkansas requires one spouse to have lived in the state for 60 continuous days before filing, a specific legal ground listed in state law, and a wait of at least 30 days after filing before a judge can sign the decree. Residency must reach a full three calendar months before the final decree issues. Arkansas is not a true no-fault state: even when both spouses agree the marriage is over, the petition must name a recognized ground.
Residency and Waiting Period
Either you or your spouse must have lived in Arkansas for at least 60 continuous days before you file the divorce complaint. The judge cannot sign the final decree until that residency reaches three full calendar months.1Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-307 – Matters Which Must Be Proved Because those are calendar months rather than a flat 90 days, the exact timeline shifts with your filing date.
A separate waiting period runs alongside the residency rule. No divorce decree can issue until at least 30 days after the case is filed, measured from the filing date rather than from when your spouse is served. Two exceptions eliminate or shorten the wait: if the spouses already lived apart continuously for 12 months before filing, or if the other spouse is served by publication.2Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-310 – Waiting Period Before Rendition of Decree Neither spouse can waive the 30-day period.
Grounds You Must Prove
Every Arkansas divorce petition has to name a specific legal ground. The most commonly used ones are:3Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-301 – Grounds for Divorce
- Living separate and apart for 18 continuous months. This is the closest Arkansas gets to a no-fault ground, and it requires no proof of wrongdoing. Moving back in together at any point resets the clock.
- General indignities. One spouse’s ongoing behavior makes life so intolerable that the other can no longer reasonably stay in the marriage. This covers patterns of neglect, hostility, or humiliation rather than a single incident.
- Adultery.
- Habitual drunkenness for at least one year, including narcotics addiction.
- Cruel and barbarous treatment that endangers the other spouse’s life.
- Felony conviction or conviction of another serious crime.
- Impotence that existed at the time of the marriage and continues.
Two narrower grounds also appear in the statute: incurable insanity, which requires three continuous years of institutionalization and supporting medical testimony, and willful failure to provide financial support when the other spouse is legally obligated and able to do so.3Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-301 – Grounds for Divorce
Covenant Marriages Are Different
If you entered a covenant marriage under Arkansas law, the rules for ending it are stricter. The available grounds are limited to adultery, a felony or other serious crime, physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or a child, or living separate and apart for at least two continuous years (two and a half years if minor children are involved). Before filing, the spouse seeking the divorce must obtain counseling from an authorized provider.4Justia. Arkansas Code 9-11-808 – Divorce or Separation
Filing the Complaint
You file a Complaint for Divorce with the circuit court clerk in the county where you live. The complaint identifies both spouses, states the grounds, and describes what you’re asking the court to decide on property, custody, and support. Filing fees start at $165 in many counties, though local surcharges push the total higher in some places. If you cannot afford the fee, you can request a waiver (“in forma pauperis”) under Rule 72 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure; if the court grants it, the sheriff will also serve your paperwork at no charge.
When minor children are involved, the complaint should include each child’s name, age, and recent living arrangements. Accurate financial information matters from the start, because the court relies on it to evaluate property claims and support requests.
Serving Your Spouse
After filing, your spouse must be formally notified. The usual methods are delivery by a sheriff, a licensed process server, or certified mail with return receipt requested. Once served, the other spouse has 30 days to file a written answer. If no answer comes in, the court can grant the divorce by default, which means the petitioner may receive everything they asked for on custody, property, and support.
If you genuinely cannot locate your spouse despite reasonable efforts, Arkansas allows service by publication. You file a sworn statement describing your search, and the clerk issues a “warning order” directing your spouse to appear within 30 days. If your filing fees were waived, the warning order is posted on the courthouse bulletin board for 30 days; otherwise, it must be published in a local newspaper once a week for at least two weeks. You must also mail a copy of the complaint and warning order to your spouse’s last known address by certified mail with restricted delivery, then file a second sworn statement confirming everything was done.5Arkansas Law Help. Service by Publication
Uncontested and Contested Cases
When both spouses agree on grounds, property, custody, and support, the case is uncontested. The court still holds a brief hearing where the petitioner testifies to the grounds, and uncontested cases can conclude shortly after the 30-day waiting period expires.
A contested divorce means the spouses disagree on at least one issue. These cases involve discovery, potentially depositions, and one or more hearings before a judge. They take significantly longer and cost more in attorney fees. Most Arkansas divorce attorneys will push for settlement or mediation before trial, because a judge who barely knows your family is otherwise the one making binding decisions about your finances and your children.
Child Custody and Parenting Time
Arkansas law starts with a presumption that joint custody is in the best interest of the child. Joint custody means an approximate and reasonable equal division of time between both parents.6FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 9 Family Law 9-13-101 – Award of Custody The presumption applies to original custody decisions in divorce and paternity cases, and the court makes custody awards without regard to a parent’s sex.
A judge can override the joint custody presumption only when clear and convincing evidence shows joint custody would not serve the child’s best interest. Factors that can rebut the presumption include domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, and an inability of the parents to cooperate. If the court departs from joint custody, it must issue a written order explaining the specific facts and legal basis and set a parenting time schedule that maximizes each parent’s time with the child.6FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 9 Family Law 9-13-101 – Award of Custody
If a child is old enough and mature enough to express a meaningful preference, the court may consider it regardless of the child’s exact age. A parent who doesn’t receive custody is entitled to reasonable parenting time unless the court finds contact would seriously endanger the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health. One provision worth knowing: if a parent with joint custody repeatedly creates conflict to disrupt the arrangement, the court can treat that behavior as a material change in circumstances and shift primary custody to the other parent.
Child Support
Arkansas calculates child support using the income of the paying parent, guided by a Family Support Chart maintained by the state courts. The chart amount is presumed correct, meaning the judge will order that amount unless evidence shows the child’s needs require something different.7Arkansas Judiciary. Administrative Order Number 10 – Arkansas Child Support Guidelines
Income for support purposes includes wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, disability payments, retirement benefits, and interest. Before the chart is applied, the paying parent’s income is reduced by federal and state income taxes, Social Security and Medicare withholding, medical insurance for the children, and any existing child support obligations under other court orders. When the paying parent’s income exceeds the chart’s upper limit, the court applies fixed percentages: 15 percent for one child, 21 percent for two, and 25 percent for three, scaling up to 32 percent for six or more children.7Arkansas Judiciary. Administrative Order Number 10 – Arkansas Child Support Guidelines
If a parent is unemployed or deliberately earning less than they could, the court can attribute income up to that parent’s earning capacity. At minimum, income equivalent to minimum wage will be imputed to any parent ordered to pay support.
When Child Support Ends
The obligation terminates automatically when the child turns 18. If the child is still in high school at 18, support continues until the child turns 19, graduates, or finishes the school year, whichever comes first. Past-due support doesn’t disappear when the obligation ends; any unpaid balance remains enforceable. The paying parent must notify the custodial parent, the court clerk, the Child Support Clearinghouse, the Office of Child Support Enforcement, and their employer within 10 days of the obligation ending.
Consequences of Not Paying
Falling behind carries escalating consequences. A court can hold a non-paying parent in contempt and order payment of the full arrearage, garnish bank accounts, place liens on property, or order the sale of assets. A parent more than three months behind can have their driver’s license suspended. If the arrearage exceeds $2,500, passport revocation becomes possible. At $10,000 or more in unpaid support lasting longer than a year, the non-paying parent faces misdemeanor charges carrying up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Leaving the state to avoid child support can result in felony charges with penalties up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Property Division
Arkansas divides marital property under a presumption of equal distribution. The default is a straight 50/50 split, and a judge departs from that only when equal division would be inequitable.8Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-315 – Division of Property – Definition That is a meaningful distinction from the equitable distribution approach used in most states, where judges have broader discretion from the start. In Arkansas, you begin at equal and justify any deviation.
When a judge finds that a 50/50 split would be unfair, the court considers the length of the marriage; each spouse’s age, health, and station in life; each spouse’s occupation, income, and employability; existing assets, debts, and future earning potential; contributions to acquiring or preserving marital property, including homemaking; and the federal tax consequences of how property is divided.
Property owned before the marriage, inherited property, and gifts received by one spouse individually are generally treated as non-marital and stay with the original owner.8Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-315 – Division of Property – Definition Complications arise when non-marital property gets mixed with marital assets, or when one spouse contributes to increasing the value of the other’s separate property during the marriage.
Retirement Accounts
Retirement benefits earned during the marriage are marital property subject to division. Dividing a 401(k), pension, or similar account requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), a separate court order directing the plan administrator to pay a portion of the benefits to the non-member spouse. The QDRO must be signed by the judge, file-stamped by the clerk, and approved by the plan before any payment can occur.9Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. Divorce
One detail catches people off guard: benefits under a QDRO typically do not vest until the member spouse actually retires. If the member dies before retirement, only accumulated contributions, not the full benefit, may be available under the order. Getting the QDRO right at the time of divorce matters, because going back years later to fix errors or obtain a missing order is far more complicated and expensive.
Alimony
Arkansas courts can award alimony to either spouse based on the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case. There is no fixed formula. The court looks at the length of the marriage, each spouse’s income and earning capacity, and the standard of living established during the marriage.10Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-312 – Alimony – Child Support – Bond
Rehabilitative alimony is the most common type. It provides fixed payments for a set period to help the receiving spouse become self-supporting, often by completing education or job training. The court can require the recipient to submit a rehabilitation plan and may later modify or end payments if the recipient doesn’t follow through.10Justia. Arkansas Code 9-12-312 – Alimony – Child Support – Bond
Alimony automatically ends upon the earliest of several events: the recipient remarries, either party dies, or the recipient begins living full-time with another person in an intimate, cohabitating relationship. It also ends if the recipient enters a relationship that produces a child and results in a support order from or to another person. Either side can petition the court to modify alimony based on a significant and material change in circumstances at any time.
Mediation and Settlement
Arkansas judges can order divorcing parents into mediation, particularly on custody and visitation disputes. Even when not ordered, many couples use mediation voluntarily to negotiate property division and support terms outside a courtroom. Mediation tends to produce faster, less expensive outcomes than litigation, and the agreements tend to hold up better because both parties had a hand in crafting them.
For a settlement agreement to be enforceable, it must be in writing and signed by both parties. The agreement can cover property division, spousal support, child custody, and child support. The court is not bound by whatever the parents agree to regarding children, though. A judge retains authority to evaluate whether custody and support terms serve the child’s best interest and can reject or modify provisions that don’t meet that standard.
Once the court approves a settlement agreement and incorporates it into the final decree, the terms become legally binding. Violating them carries the same consequences as violating any other court order, including potential contempt proceedings. Before signing any agreement, be sure you understand what you’re giving up, because modifying the property division terms of a finalized decree is extremely difficult.