A divorce can be a very emotional, stressful and traumatic experience and people can act without realizing the consequences of their decisions.  Since divorce is a “life transition” that you, your spouse, and your children will have to endure, you can easily lose perspective of what is best for your long term goals and priorities. It can be very helpful to seek an experienced attorney that can help you protect your interests.

Contested Arkansas Divorce

In divorces substantial property and debt must be divided and decisions relating to alimony, and child custody, support and visitation need to be made.  If you are facing divorce and you and your spouse cannot agree on these important issues, you will need to fight to obtain your legal rights.

In Arkansas, the Circuit Court will decide whether to grant a divorce, how to divide the martial property, who gets custody, how much child support or alimony is to be paid and any other issues that arise in a divorce.  Generally, their goal is to divide property according to equitable distribution and ensure that the overall outcome will be as fair to everyone as circumstances will permit, including the obligation to support children.

Uncontested Arkansas Divorce

An uncontested divorce can occur in Arkansas when either your spouse does not answer your divorce complaint within the specified time after being served with a summons from the Court or if your spouse answers your divorce complaint and you have both agreed on all settlement terms.

If you and your spouse can agree in writing about how to divide your property and debt, determine if alimony should be paid, who gets custody of the children, what child support and visitation will be, how to handle your tax matters, and who pays attorney’s fees and Court costs than you can create a settlement agreement that can be used at an uncontested divorce hearing.

If your spouse has not filed an answer to your divorce complaint, the judge will decide at the final hearing how to divide the martial property, who gets custody, how much child support or alimony is to be paid, who pays attorney’s fees and Court costs and all other issues that come up in the uncontested divorce.