Title 9, Family Law

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: “STATE OF ARKANSAS COUNTY OF BE IT KNOWN THAT on this. . . . . . . . . . day of . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., . . . . . ., before me the undersigned notary, personally came…

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…

No subsequent or second marriage shall be contracted by any person during the lifetime of any former husband or wife of the person unless the marriage with the former husband or wife has been dissolved for some one (1) of the causes set forth in the law concerning divorces by a c…

When either of the parties to a marriage is incapable from want of age or understanding of consenting to any marriage, or is incapable of entering into the marriage state due to physical causes, or when the consent of either party shall have been obtained by force or fraud, the m…

(a) The action shall be by equitable proceedings in the county where the complainant or complainants reside. (b) The process may be directed in the first instance to any county in the state where the defendant may then reside or be found.

(a) A plaintiff who seeks to dissolve and set aside a covenant marriage shall state in his or her petition for divorce that he or she is seeking to dissolve a covenant marriage as authorized under the Covenant Marriage Act of 2001, § 9-11-801 et seq. (b) The circuit court shall h…

The action for alimony or divorce shall be by equitable proceedings.

(a) The proceedings shall be in the county where the complainant resides unless the complainant is a nonresident of the State of Arkansas and the defendant is a resident of the state, in which case the proceedings shall be in the county where the defendant resides and, in any eve…

(a) The pleadings are not required to be verified by affidavit. (b) However, either party may file interrogatories to the other in regard to any matter of property involved in the action that shall be answered on oath as interrogatories in other actions and have the same effect.

The statements of the complaint for a divorce shall not be taken as true because of the defendant's failure to answer or admission of their truth on the part of the defendant.

(a) In uncontested divorce suits, corroboration of the plaintiff's grounds for divorce shall not be necessary or required. (b) In contested suits, corroboration of the injured party's grounds may be expressly waived in writing by the other spouse. (c) (1) This section does not ap…

(a) To obtain a divorce, the plaintiff must prove, but need not allege, in addition to a legal cause of divorce:(1) (A) A residence in the state by either the plaintiff or defendant for sixty (60) days next before the commencement of the action and a residence in the state for th…

If it appears to the court that the adultery or other offense complained of has been occasioned by the collusion of the parties or done with an intent to procure a divorce, that the complainant was consenting thereto, or that both parties have been guilty of the adultery or other…

(a) (1) During the pendency of an action for divorce, whether absolute or from bed and board, separate maintenance, or alimony, the court may:(A) (i) Allow to the wife or to the husband maintenance;(ii) Allow a reasonable fee for his or her attorneys; and(iii) Allow expert witnes…

Unless the parties shall have lived separate and apart from each other for a period of twelve (12) months next before the filing of the complaint or unless the defendant is constructively summoned by publication of warning order, no decree of absolute divorce or of divorce from b…

The injured party may apply for a decree of divorce, but no divorce shall affect the legitimacy of the children born previously to entering the decree in the case.

(a) (1) When a decree is entered, the court shall make an order concerning the care of the children, if there are any, and an order concerning alimony, if applicable, as are reasonable from the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case.(2) Unless otherwise ordered b…

Courts of equity may enforce the performance of written agreements between husband and wife made and entered into in contemplation of either separation or divorce and decrees or orders for alimony and maintenance by sequestration of the property of either party, or that of his or…

(a) The court, upon application of either party, may make such alterations from time to time, as to the allowance of alimony and maintenance as may be proper and may order any reasonable sum to be paid for the support of the wife or the husband during the pending of a complaint f…

(a) At the time a divorce decree is entered:(1) (A) All marital property shall be distributed one-half (½) to each party unless the court finds such a division to be inequitable. In that event the court shall make some other division that the court deems equitable taking into con…

In any divorce suit in which a written property settlement involving real property is entered into by the parties and reference is made to the settlement in the divorce decree, a copy of that portion of the property settlement involving real property shall be filed and recorded w…

(a) Hereafter, when any circuit court in this state renders a final decree of divorce, any estate by the entirety or survivorship in real or personal property held by the parties to the divorce shall be automatically dissolved unless the court order specifically provides otherwis…

In all cases when the court finds that either party is entitled to a divorce, the court may restore the wife to the name that she bore previous to the marriage dissolved.

In all divorce actions pending or filed in any of the circuit courts of this state where a warning order has been published against the defendant, who is a nonresident of this state, for the time and in the manner fixed by law and proof of publication has been filed with the cler…

(a) (1) The court where the final decree of divorce is rendered shall retain jurisdiction for all matters following the entry of the decree.(2) (A) (i) Either party, or the court on its own motion, may petition the court that granted the final decree to request that the case be t…

The proceedings for annulling a final judgment for a divorce from the bond of matrimony shall be a joint petition of the parties, verified by both parties in person, filed in the court rendering the judgment, upon which the court may forthwith annul the divorce.

(a) When the parties to a divorce action have minor children residing with one (1) or both parents, the court, prior to or after entering a decree of divorce, may require the parties to:(1) Complete at least two (2) hours of classes concerning parenting issues faced by divorced p…