Arkansas Divorce Laws

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Divorce laws are the necessary legal tools that carry out the whole procedure of divorce in any state. The divorce laws in any particular state contain the provisions that operate a specific procedure in that state. Arkansas divorce laws propose the rules for premarital agreement and child support. These laws are to be studied in detail to avoid any mistakes in the filing of a divorce case.

Arkansas Divorce Laws for premarital agreement

Premarital agreement is a contract made between the parties before marriage. The laws mention the division of property and settlement over other issues, in case a divorce happens in future. But, such agreement cannot be enforced if the following conditions are found by the court:

• The agreement was not executed voluntarily by the party
• The party did not give up the right to property or financial obligations or to receive a full disclosure

Premarital agreement that is per-nuptial agreement is to be completed and registered before marriage. Earlier these types of agreements were not preferred by the law, as they were said to be challenging the purpose of marriage. But nowadays they are recognized world-wide. The disputes over property at the time of divorce would lessen if a premarital agreement exists.

Arkansas Divorce Laws for child support

The latest revision of the family support chart is referred to by the Court to decide a reasonable amount for child support. The parents are required to pay child support through the Arkansas child support clearing house. In case the parent is not self-employed, a wage assignment is used for payments. As per the law, child support should be done till the child attains 18 years of age. It may be continued thereafter if the child has a disability that prevents independent life or the child has not cleared high school education. While deciding the child support amount, many factors are taken into consideration. Some of them are as follows:

• Educational needs of the child
• Income earned by both parents. Any other obligations to be paid from the income earned by all sources.
• Medical and other essential expenditures required for the child.
• The requirements of the parent who has custody of the child. The proportion of income invested by such parent for the upbringing of the child.

Child custody

The best interests and welfare of the child are taken into account while deciding child custody. The sex of the parent has no significance in this issue. The following issues are thought over -

• Domestic abuse by any partner
• The partner who would more possibly permit continued and frequent contact with the other partner who has not undertaken custody.
• The child preferences, in case the child is able to reason and is of enough age. The minimum age to make preference is 12.

Sometimes the Court may reach a decision that the optimum interest of the child is in awarding custody to a grandparent. In this case also, the sex of the grandparent is not considered. This type of decision is taken if none of the partners is eligible to handle the child in a proper manner.

Change in wife's name

The Court restores the wife's name to the one she had prior to the marriage after the Court finds that both the parties are permitted to have a divorce.

Alimony

Spousal support is awarded for a fixed period to either spouse by means of fixed installments. These installments are terminated when the following happens -

• Remarriage of the receiving spouse
• Death of either partner
• Incidents neglected while the court decision is made.
• When the receiving spouse establishes a relation that gives rise to offspring.

Property distribution

This state believes in the concept of equitable distribution. The property attained by either partner during the marital life is classified as marital property. The initial step for distribution of property is to offer half part to each partner. However, it may happen that the Court may find this distribution inequitable. To resolve this problem, the below mentioned issues are speculated.

• Due to the division of property by the Court, the nature of Federal Income Tax consequences that would happen.
• The needs, debt and property of each partner and the chances that each partner has to further attain income and capital assets.
• The input of each partner in creating the marital estate. This is inclusive of the role of other partner as a homemaker.
• Sources of income, amount of income, occupation, vocational skills and employability of each partner.
• Health and age of each partner
• The period of marriage

So, this is the overall view of the Arkansas divorce laws. Legal help is advisable if a person has to deal with complex provisions of these laws.

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