To file for divorce in Arkansas, you must meet the residency requirement and plead valid grounds for divorce. The most commonly claimed grounds for divorce are "general indignities" and "separation for 18 months." The grounds must have occurred within the last five years. If your spouse does not want a divorce, you must be able to prove your basis and residency at the final hearing. The process begins when one of the parties files a complaint with the court asking for a divorce. Once the complaint is filed, the plaintiff notifies the defendant of the divorce proceedings and his or her opportunity to respond. Once a defendant is served with notice of the proceedings, he or she has 30 days to respond. If the defendant does not respond, the court may grant a default divorce without the defendant's participation. For uncontested divorces in Arkansas, our Jonesboro family law firm helps you keep costs down by streamlining the process. The more agreement between the parties, the quicker and cheaper we can get you divorced.

If the parties cannot reach a settlement, the family law court decides how the children and property are to be divided. Depending on a family's circumstances, and if children are involved, the court determines:

• Child custody
• Child visitation
• Child support
• Payment of medical and other expenses related to the child
• Division of marital assets and liabilities
• Alimony, or spousal support

Our Jonesboro child custody attorney collaborates with you well in advance of trial to decide which discovery tools best fit the circumstances of your case and your budget. Under Arkansas procedural rules, we have several options for conducting pretrial discovery:

• Written interrogatories
• Depositions
• Subpoenas duces tecum
• Requests for production of documents
• Requests for admissions

The divorce process takes at least 30 days in uncontested divorces and potentially much longer in contested matters, depending on whether child custody issues are involved and if property division and support issues are problematic. Once the court issues a final decree, only the court can modify it. A party who fails to adhere to the terms of the decree can be held in contempt of court and possibly jailed.