Divorce or separation

  1. Law
  2. Arkansas Code
  3. Family Law
  4. Domestic Relations
  5. Marriage
  6. Covenant Marriage Act
  7. Divorce or separation

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  1. (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. (1) The other spouse has committed adultery;

    2. (2) The other spouse has committed a felony or other infamous crime;

    3. (3) The other spouse has physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking the divorce or a child of one (1) of the spouses;

    4. (4) The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for a period of two (2) years; or

    5. (5)

      1. (A) The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for a period of two (2) years from the date the judgment of judicial separation was signed.

      2. (B)

        1. (i) If there is a minor child or children of the marriage, the spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for a period of two (2) years and six (6) months from the date the judgment of judicial separation was signed.

        2. (ii) However, if abuse of a child of the marriage or a child of one (1) of the spouses is the basis for which the judgment of judicial separation was obtained, then a judgment of divorce may be obtained if the spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for a period of one (1) year from the date the judgment of judicial separation was signed.

  2. (b) 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 judicial separation only upon proof of any of the following:

    1. (1) The other spouse has committed adultery;

    2. (2) The other spouse has committed a felony and has been sentenced to death or imprisonment;

    3. (3) The other spouse has physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking the legal separation or divorce or a child of one (1) of the spouses;

    4. (4) The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for a period of two (2) years; or

    5. (5) The other spouse shall:

      1. (A) Be addicted to habitual drunkenness for one (1) year;

      2. (B) Be guilty of such cruel and barbarous treatment as to endanger the life of the other; or

      3. (C) Offer such indignities to the person of the other as shall render his or her condition intolerable.


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