Arkansas

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 80 out of 100

Arkansas presumes an equal split of marital property, but the judge may depart with written reasons and may also divide premarital, gifted, or inherited property. Alimony amount and duration, and fee awards, are left to the judge’s discretion, and a party cannot remove the assigned judge or ask for a jury. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Arkansas ranks 30 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	10 / 20	Marital property is divided half to each spouse unless the court finds that inequitable and states its reasons in writing, and the court may also divide property a spouse owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance if it states its reasons in writing. Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-315(a)(1)-(2)
Alimony	20 / 20	The court makes an alimony order that is reasonable from the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case, with no formula, cap, or duration schedule, and rehabilitative alimony may be set for a specified period. Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-312(a)(1), (b)
Fault	10 / 20	Fault is not a factor in alimony unless it meaningfully relates to need or ability to pay, and the statutory property factors omit fault, but the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld an unequal property division based on a spouse’s conspiracy to murder the other spouse. Murphy v. Murphy, 302 Ark. 157, 787 S.W.2d 684 (1990); Stover v. Stover, 287 Ark. 116, 696 S.W.2d 750 (1985); Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-315(a)(1)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	The court may award either spouse costs, a reasonable attorney’s fee, and expert witness fees, with no presumption about who pays. Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-309(a)
Second opinion	20 / 20	Divorce and alimony actions are equitable proceedings tried without a jury, and no statute or rule was found that lets a party remove the assigned judge without cause. Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-302

Getting in

No waiting period. A couple gets a license from a county clerk, and both sign a notice of intention to wed. No waiting period applies to adults; a 17-year-old faces five business days. The license must be returned within 60 days. Applicants also enter a $100 bond, which is void once the signed license is returned on time.
Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-11-102(b)(6), 9-11-201, 9-11-205, 9-11-210, 9-11-218 (as amended by Act 845 of 2025), 14-20-111

Who can marry you. The governor, judges and certain former judges, justices of the peace, mayors, a quorum court appointee, and any regularly ordained minister or priest may officiate. A minister must first record credentials with a county clerk; the statute does not address online ordination. Quakers and religious societies that reject formal ceremonies may marry members by their own rite.
Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-11-213, 9-11-214, 9-11-215(b), 9-11-220(f)

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot become married in Arkansas without a license and ceremony. Arkansas honors a marriage valid in another state only if the couple actually lived in that state at the time. A short visit to a common-law state while living in Arkansas does not create a marriage.
Walker v. Yarbrough, 257 Ark. 300, 516 S.W.2d 390 (1974); Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-11-107, 9-11-201

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Arkansas is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Marital property is everything acquired after the wedding except premarital property, gifts, inheritances, and their income. The court divides it equally unless it finds that inequitable, and it may divide other property if it states its reasons. Accumulation runs until the decree. The statute excludes growth of separate property, but growth from a spouse’s significant effort is presumed marital.
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-315(a), (b); Brown v. Brown, 373 Ark. 333, 284 S.W.3d 17 (2008); Farrell v. Farrell, 365 Ark. 465, 231 S.W.3d 619 (2006)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

Putting it in joint names usually makes it marital. Placing separate money in a joint account raises a presumption that the owner gave the spouse a half interest, and only clear and convincing evidence overcomes it. Tracing helps but does not decide the question. In Jackson, inherited money that only passed through a joint account was not converted, because the owner proved no gift was intended.
Singleton v. Singleton, 99 Ark. App. 371, 260 S.W.3d 756 (2007); McKay v. McKay, 340 Ark. 171, 8 S.W.3d 525 (2000); Jackson v. Jackson, 298 Ark. 60, 765 S.W.2d 561 (1989); Boggs v. Boggs, 26 Ark. App. 188, 761 S.W.2d 956 (1988)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Generally, you don’t owe your spouse’s bills. The statute abolishes the common-law doctrine of necessaries and provides that, absent express authority, neither spouse is liable for the other’s debts, including debts for necessaries such as medicine.
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-11-516

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

Arkansas keeps dower and curtesy instead of an elective share. A spouse married more than one year may take against the will and receive dower or curtesy as in intestacy: with children, a life estate in one-third of the lands the decedent owned at any time during the marriage (unless the survivor relinquished it) plus one-third of the personal estate outright; with no children, one-half against collateral heirs and one-third against creditors.
Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-39-401, 28-11-301, 28-11-305, 28-11-307

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983), Arkansas Premarital Agreement Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 9-11-401 et seq.. A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if not signed voluntarily, or if unconscionable when signed and the challenger lacked fair disclosure, did not waive disclosure in writing after consulting counsel, and did not otherwise know the other’s finances. Postnuptial agreements are analyzed under contract law and closely scrutinized to ensure they are fair and equitable, with full disclosure of assets.
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-11-406; Stewart v. Combs, 368 Ark. 121, 243 S.W.3d 294 (2006)

What an agreement needs. The agreement must be in writing and signed and acknowledged by both parties. Acknowledgment means a declaration before a notary or other officer, a sworn affirmation by each party’s lawyer, a notarized agreement stating each party consulted a lawyer and signed freely, or signing before two disinterested witnesses. A written waiver of disclosure counts only if made after consulting counsel, and a court may order support despite a waiver that would leave a spouse on public assistance.
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-11-402; § 9-11-406(a)(2)(ii), (b)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. Arkansas uses an income shares chart, which replaced the former payor-income chart in 2020. Support ends at 18, or if the child is still in high school, at graduation or the end of the school year after turning 19, whichever is earlier. A court may continue support for a disabled child. College support exists only if a parent contracted for it.
Ark. Sup. Ct. Admin. Order No. 10, 2022 Ark. 185; Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-12-312(a)(6), 9-14-237(a)(1); Van Camp v. Van Camp, 333 Ark. 320, 969 S.W.2d 184 (1998)

Moving away with a child. A parent with sole or primary custody who also spends significantly more time with the child than the other parent is presumed entitled to move, and the other parent must rebut that. A primary custody label alone is not enough. Without that, the court asks whether circumstances changed and what serves the child. Arkansas presumes joint custody in original custody orders. The sources read set no notice period.
Cooper v. Kalkwarf, 2017 Ark. 331, 532 S.W.3d 58; Hollandsworth v. Knyzewski, 353 Ark. 470, 109 S.W.3d 653 (2003); Singletary v. Singletary, 2013 Ark. 506, 431 S.W.3d 234; Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101(a)(1)(A)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: 60 days. Either spouse must have lived in Arkansas for 60 days before filing, and for three full months before the final decree. Residence means actual presence, and another person must corroborate it. If the defendant is not personally served or does not appear, the plaintiff needs three months of actual residence. Grounds may arise outside Arkansas if they are valid grounds here.
Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-12-303, 9-12-306(c), 9-12-307(a), (b)

How long it takes. The only no-fault route is 18 continuous months apart without cohabitation, on either spouse’s suit and without the other’s consent. Someone else must corroborate the separation. A decree cannot enter until 30 days after filing, though one section exempts couples already apart 12 months. Fault grounds avoid the separation period. Covenant marriages require two years apart.
Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-11-808(a), 9-12-301(b)(5), 9-12-306(c), 9-12-307(a)(1)(B), 9-12-310

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 575 days from arrival to a final decree (545 days apart (18 months = 365 + 180; residency runs inside it) + 30-day wait). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Arkansas and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Arkansas lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Arkansas” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.