Title 9 — Family Law

(a) A married person may bargain, sell, assign, and transfer his or her separate personal property, carry on any trade or business, and perform any labor or services on his or her sole and separate account. (b) The earnings of any married person from the trade, business, labor, o…

A.C.A. § 9-11-504Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) The real and personal property that any married person now owns, or has had conveyed to him or her by any person in good faith and without prejudice to existing creditors, that is acquired as sole and separate property, that comes to him or her by gift, bequest, descent, gran…

In all marriages solemnized after February 1, 1899, neither spouse shall be held to be liable for the antenuptial debts of the other, except by virtue of an express written contract.

The property of any male or female, whether real or personal, and whether acquired before or after marriage in that person's own right, shall not be sold to pay the debts of a spouse contracted for or damages incurred by the spouse before marriage.

No bargain or contract made by any married person, in respect to his or her sole and separate property or any property that may come to him or her by descent, devise, bequest, purchase, or gift or grant of any person, and no bargain or contract entered into by any married person,…

(a) A married person owning any separate personal property may make a schedule of the property and file it in the recorder's office of the county where he or she then lives. (b) The schedule so filed, or a duly certified copy thereof, under the hand and seal of the recorder, shal…

That schedule of a married person's separate property may be in the following form:Click here to view form.

(a) Any persons who shall bona fide sell or give any property to a married person may schedule and record the sale or gift as the separate property of the married person, with the same and like effect as though the scheduling and recording had been done by the married person. (b)…

The separate estate and property of a married person shall not be forfeited nor shall any rights and title thereto be prejudiced by a failure or neglect to file a schedule. However, in any suit, action, or proceeding relating to the property when the property has not been schedul…

The fact that a married person permits his or her spouse to have the custody, control, and management of separate property shall not of itself be sufficient evidence that the married person has relinquished title to the property. However, the presumption shall be that the spouse …

This section and §§ 9-11-501 and 9-11-509 — 9-11-513 shall not be construed to abridge the existing jurisdiction and powers of a court of equity to make a settlement upon a spouse out of his or her separate estate and property and otherwise protect his or her separate property ri…

A.C.A. § 9-11-515Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) (1) Absent express authority, neither a husband nor a wife is liable for the other's debt obligations, including those for necessaries.(2) As used in this section, “necessaries” means all such things required for the sustenance of a person, including food, clothing, medicine,…

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to release the plaintiff from any legal obligation the plaintiff may be under to support the defendant out of the plaintiff's estate, the same as if this subchapter had not been enacted.

(a) (1) Any person owning lands in this state and whose spouse is adjudged insane may apply by petition to the circuit court of the county where the lands are situated for leave to sell the real estate, or any part thereof, discharged and unencumbered of the rights of dower or cu…

(a) Upon the hearing of the petition, if the court deems it to be in the best interest of the parties that the land be sold, it may make an order that the plaintiff may sell the land free and discharged and unencumbered of the right of dower or curtesy, as the case may be. (b) In…

(a) (1) Any person owning lands in this state whose spouse is adjudged permanently insane may apply by petition to the circuit court of the county where the lands or the greater part thereof are situated to have a life estate in a part of the lands set apart to the spouse in lieu…

(a) The acts and deeds of all persons acting for and in behalf of any county clerk in this state in the issuance of marriage licenses prior to January 26, 1945, whether the person was a duly and legally appointed deputy of the county clerk or not, are declared to be as legal and …

All marriage ceremonies performed by mayors in the State of Arkansas prior to June 12, 1947, are declared to be valid.

(a) Section 9-11-214(a) and (b) shall not apply to those ministers and priests who properly filed their credentials prior to February 18, 1947, according to the law as it existed at the time the credentials were filed. (b) Any marriage solemnized by any regularly ordained ministe…

(a) All marriages between persons authorized to contract marriage and solemnized prior to March 31, 1885, by any justice of the peace, or any other person authorized by law to solemnize the rites of matrimony, of any county in any other county in this state, and the persons after…

All marriages solemnized by municipal court judges prior to July 20, 1987, are declared valid ab initio.

(a) It is the intent of this section to validate all marriages deemed void as a result of the decision of the Supreme Court in Standridge v. Standridge, 298 Ark. 494, 769 S.W.2d 12 (1989) , whether occurring prior to or subsequent to November 14, 1989. (b) (1) All marriages heret…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Covenant Marriage Act of 2001”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Authorized counseling” means marital counseling provided by:(A) A priest;(B) A minister;(C) A rabbi;(D) A clerk of the Religious Society of Friends;(E) Any clergy member of any religious sect or a designated representative;(F) A marriage educat…

(a) (1) A covenant marriage is a marriage entered into by one (1) male and one (1) female who understand and agree that the marriage between them is a lifelong relationship.(2) Parties to a covenant marriage will have received authorized counseling emphasizing the nature, purpose…

(a) A declaration of intent to contract a covenant marriage shall contain all of the following:(1) A recitation signed by both parties to the following effect:“A COVENANT MARRIAGEWe do solemnly declare that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman who agree to live togeth…

The following is the suggested form of the affidavit that may be used by the parties, notary, and counselor:Click here to view form.

A covenant marriage shall be governed by all of the provisions of this title, except as otherwise specifically provided in this subchapter.

(a) A married couple, upon submission of a copy of their marriage certificate, which need not be certified, may execute a declaration of intent to designate their marriage as a covenant marriage to be governed by this subchapter. (b) This declaration of intent in the form and con…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary and subsequent to the parties' obtaining authorized counseling, a spouse to a covenant marriage may obtain a judgment of divorce only upon proof of any of the following:(1) The other spouse has committed adultery;(2) The other spo…

(a) Unless judicially separated, spouses in a covenant marriage may not sue each other except for causes of action:(1) Pertaining to contracts;(2) For restitution of separate property;(3) For judicial separation in covenant marriages;(4) For divorce or for declaration of nullity …

(a) Judicial separation in a covenant marriage does not dissolve the bond of matrimony since the separated husband and wife are not at liberty to marry again, but it puts an end to their conjugal cohabitation and to the common concerns that existed between them. (b) Spouses who a…

(a) The Administrative Office of the Courts shall promulgate an informational pamphlet, entitled “Covenant Marriage Act of 2001”, which shall outline in sufficient detail the consequences of entering into a covenant marriage. (b) The informational pamphlet shall be made available…