Title 9, Family Law

All records regarding subsidized adoption shall be confidential and may be opened for inspection only under the provisions of § 9-9-217.

(a) A family is initially eligible for a subsidy for purposes of adoption if:(1) (A) No other potential adoptive family has been identified and is willing and able to adopt the child without the use of a subsidy.(B) In the case of a child who has established significant emotional…

(a) When parents are found and approved for adoption of a child certified as eligible for a subsidy and before the final decree of adoption is issued, there must be a written agreement between the family entering into the subsidized adoption and the Department of Human Services. …

(a) The amount of the subsidy may be readjusted periodically with the concurrence of the adopting parents, which may be specified in the adoption subsidy agreement, depending upon a change in circumstances. (b) The subsidy may be for special services not covered by any other avai…

(a) (1) The subsidy agreement shall be binding and constitute an obligation against the State of Arkansas until the adopted child reaches the age of eighteen (18) years or the benefits available to him or her under the subsidy agreement are provided by other state or federal prog…

(a) (1) (A) When subsidies are for more than one (1) year, the adoptive parents shall present an annual sworn certification that the adopted child remains under their care and that the condition that caused the child to be certified continues to exist.(B) An adoptive parent commi…

Any subsidy decision by the Department of Human Services which the placement agency or the adoptive parents deem adverse to the child shall be reviewable according to the provisions of § 20-76-408.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Administrator” means the person charged with maintenance and supervision of a registry and may include the administrator's agents, employees, and designees;(2) “Adoptee” means a person who has been legally adopted in this state;(3) “Adoption” m…

(a) (1) No person, agency, entity, or organization of any kind, including, but not limited to, any officer or employee of this state and any employee, officer, or judge of any court of this state shall disclose any confidential information relating to any adoption, except as prov…

(a) (1) A mutual consent voluntary adoption registry may be established and maintained by any licensed voluntary agency involved in an adoption.(2) Persons eligible to receive identifying information shall work through the agency involved in the adoption. If that agency has merge…

(a) (1) The adult adoptee and each birth parent and each individual related within the second degree whose identity is to be disclosed may voluntarily place his or her name in the appropriate registry by submitting a notarized affidavit stating his or her name, address, and telep…

(a) Prior to placement for adoption, the licensed adoption agency or, when an agency is not involved, the person, entity, or organization handling the adoption shall compile and provide to the prospective adoptive parents a detailed, written health history and genetic and social …

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the information acquired by any registry shall not be disclosed under any sunshine or freedom of information legislation, rules, or practice. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person, group of persons, or entity, in…

All records of any adoption finalized in this state shall be maintained for ninety-nine (99) years by the agency, entity, organization, or person arranging the adoption.

The Department of Human Services shall issue such rules as are necessary for implementing this subchapter.

(a) The Governor shall award the Governor's Pro Bono Adoption Service Award by proclamation in recognition of the efforts and sacrifice of those attorneys who provide adoption services on a volunteer basis. (b) Those receiving the Governor's Pro Bono Adoption Service Award shall …

(a) (1) A family who adopts a child from the Department of Human Services shall be eligible for the streamlined adoption process if the family chooses to adopt another child from the department and the department selects the family to be the adoptive parents of a child in the cus…

(a) As used in this section, “newborn” means an infant who is thirty (30) days of age or younger. (b) If a report of neglect under § 12-18-103(14)(B) is made to the Child Abuse Hotline, the mother has the option to place the newborn for:(1) Adoption through a licensed child place…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Adoption file” means a file maintained by the Department of Health that contains an original birth certificate and adoption decree of an adoptee;(2) “Genetic and social history” has the same meaning as provided under § 9-9-501; and(3) “Requeste…

(a) (1) (A) The Department of Health shall create and make available on its website:(i) A form that a birth parent may use to have his or her name redacted from the copy of an adoption file that a requester receives under § 9-9-803; and(ii) A form that a birth parent may use to s…

(a) Beginning August 1, 2018, a requester may submit a written request for a copy of an adoption file from the Department of Health. (b) (1) A request submitted under this section shall include the requester's address and notarized signature and satisfactory proof of the requeste…

An officer or employee of the Department of Health who releases any information contained in an adoption file or provides a copy of an adoption file to a requester is not criminally liable or civilly liable in damages to any person for injury, death, or loss allegedly arising fro…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Acknowledged father” means a man who has executed an acknowledgment of paternity as to a child under §§ 20-18-408 — 20-18-409, or a similar acknowledgment executed during the child's minority;(2) “Adjudicated father” means a man who has been found…

(a) If the child is not born when the accused appears before the circuit court, the court may hear evidence and may make temporary orders and findings pending the birth of the child. (b) (1) (A) If the parentage of a child has not been established, the Office of Child Support Enf…

(1) Petitions for paternity establishment may be filed by:(1) A biological mother;(2) A putative father;(3) A person for whom paternity is not presumed or established by court order, including a parent or grandparent of a deceased putative father; or(4) The Office of Child Suppor…

When the case is ready for trial, if the accused denies being the father of the child, the circuit court shall hear the evidence and decide the case.

(a) (1) Upon motion of either party in a paternity action, the trial court shall order that the putative father, mother, and child submit to scientific testing for paternity, which may include deoxyribonucleic acid testing, to determine whether or not the putative father can be e…

(a) (1) (A) Subsequent to the execution of an acknowledgment of paternity by the father and mother of a child pursuant to § 20-18-408 or § 20-18-409, or a similar acknowledgment executed during the child's minority, or subsequent to a finding by the court that the putative father…

(a) If it is found by the court that the accused is the father of the child, the court shall render judgment against him for the lying-in expenses in favor of the mother, person, or agency incurring the lying-in expenses, if claimed. (b) If the lying-in expenses are not paid upon…

(a) (1) If it is found by the circuit court that the accused is the father of the child and, if claimed by the mother, the circuit court or circuit judge shall give judgment for a monthly sum of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) per month for every month from three (3) years bef…

(a) (1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, all persons under court order on August 1, 1985, to pay support who become delinquent thereunder in an amount equal to the total court-ordered support payable for thirty (30) days shall be subject to income withholding…

(a) When a child is born to an unmarried woman, legal custody of that child shall be in the woman giving birth to the child until the child reaches eighteen (18) years of age unless a court of competent jurisdiction enters an order placing the child in the custody of another part…

When any circuit court in this state determines the paternity of a child and orders the father to make periodic payments for support of the child, the court may also grant reasonable visitation rights to the father and may issue such orders as may be necessary to enforce the visi…

(a) The circuit court may at any time enlarge, diminish, or vacate any order or judgment in the proceedings under this section except in regard to the issue of paternity as justice may require and on such notice to the defendant as the court may prescribe. (b) The court shall not…

The judgment may be revived against the executor or administrator of the person against whom the judgment was rendered.

(a) A man is the father of a child for all intents and purposes if he and the mother execute an acknowledgment of paternity of the child pursuant to § 20-18-408 or § 20-18-409, or a similar acknowledgment executed during the child's minority. (b) (1) Acknowledgments of paternity …

(a) All rights of a putative father to custody, visitation, or other contact with a child conceived as a result of a rape shall be terminated immediately upon conviction of the rape in which the child was conceived under § 5-14-103 or § 5-14-114. (b) The biological mother of a ch…

(a) Any child born to a married woman by means of artificial insemination shall be deemed the legitimate natural child of the woman and the woman's husband if the husband consents in writing to the artificial insemination. (b) A child born by means of artificial insemination to a…

(a) Artificial insemination of a woman shall only be performed under the supervision of a physician licensed under the Arkansas Medical Practices Act, § 17-95-201 et seq., § 17-95-301 et seq., and § 17-95-401 et seq. (b) Prior to conducting the artificial insemination, the superv…

Marriage is considered in law a civil contract to which the consent of the parties capable in law of contracting is necessary.

(a) Every male who is at least eighteen (18) years of age and every female who is at least eighteen (18) years of age shall be capable in law of contracting marriage. (b) (1) However, a male or female who is at least seventeen (17) years of age but under the age of eighteen (18) …

(a) (1) If an application for a marriage license is made where one (1) or both parties are under eighteen (18) years of age but older than sixteen (16) years of age and the female is pregnant, both parties may appear before a judge of the circuit court of the district where the a…

In all cases in which the consent of the parent or parents or guardian is not provided, or there has been a misrepresentation of age by a contracting party, the marriage contract may be set aside and annulled upon the application of the parent or parents or guardian to the circui…

(a) The marriage of any male under the full age of seventeen (17) years and the marriage of any female under the full age of sixteen (16) years is voidable. (b) All marriages contracted prior to March 26, 1964, where one (1) or both parties to the contract were under the minimum …

(a) All marriages between parents and children, including grandparents and grandchildren of every degree, between brothers and sisters of the half as well as the whole blood, and between uncles and nieces, and between aunts and nephews, and between first cousins are declared to b…

(a) All marriages contracted outside this state that would be valid by the laws of the state or country in which the marriages were consummated and in which the parties then actually resided shall be valid in all the courts in this state. (b) This section shall not apply to a mar…