The Arkansas Domestic Relations Cover Sheet is a one-page intake form that must be filed with every domestic relations petition in circuit court. You fill it out by listing both parties’ identifying details, selecting a single case type, noting whether children are involved, and submitting it to the circuit clerk along with your petition. The form is required under Administrative Order Number 8, but it is not a pleading and carries no legal weight on its own; the information on it is not admissible as evidence and does not substitute for any required pleading or service of process.1Arkansas Judiciary. Domestic Relations Cover Sheet
What to Enter for Each Party
The sheet asks for the same four pieces of information about the plaintiff (the person filing) and the defendant:
- Full legal name, last name and first name, exactly as it appears on the petition.
- Current address, including city, state, and ZIP code.
- An active phone number.
- Driver’s license or state ID number, listed on the form as “DL/State ID.” If you do not have a driver’s license, enter your state identification number.
The form also includes a yes-or-no question about whether either party needs an interpreter, with a blank to specify the language.2Arkansas Judiciary. Domestic Relations Cover Sheet
If an attorney is filing on your behalf, there is a line for the attorney’s name, Arkansas Bar number, and which party is represented. Self-represented filers leave that section blank and complete everything else. Make sure every name and detail matches the petition itself, because the clerk uses the cover sheet to create the initial case record.2Arkansas Judiciary. Domestic Relations Cover Sheet
The cover sheet does not ask for Social Security numbers. That information goes on a separate companion form.
When You Also Need the Confidential Information Sheet
The cover sheet asks whether the case involves the custody or support of minor children. If you check “yes,” Arkansas requires you to complete and file a Confidential Information Sheet alongside the cover sheet and petition.1Arkansas Judiciary. Domestic Relations Cover Sheet That form collects sensitive details, including Social Security numbers, that the court needs for child-support enforcement but keeps sealed from the public case file. Both forms are available on the Arkansas Judiciary website at arcourts.gov.3Arkansas Judiciary. Confidential Information Sheet Skipping the Confidential Information Sheet when children are involved is one of the most common reasons a clerk flags a filing as incomplete.
Pick One Case Type
Under “Type of Case,” the form instructs you to select only one category, even if your petition asks for multiple forms of relief.1Arkansas Judiciary. Domestic Relations Cover Sheet The listed categories cover divorce, separate maintenance, annulment, custody, paternity, and support actions.
When issues overlap, choose the category that matches the primary relief requested. A divorce petition that also asks for custody is typically classified as a divorce. The case type you check controls how the clerk codes and routes the file, and clerks may reject a cover sheet if the box you select does not match what the petition actually asks for.
Filing the Cover Sheet
The completed cover sheet is filed with the circuit clerk in the county where you are starting the case, together with the petition and any other required forms. Arkansas offers two methods: paper filing at the clerk’s office or electronic filing through eFlex.
Paper Filing
You can bring the documents to the clerk’s office in person. The clerk reviews the paperwork, stamps it with a file mark, and assigns a case number. The standard statutory filing fee for a new domestic relations case is collected at that point. If you cannot afford it, you can ask the court to let you proceed without payment by filing a motion for in forma pauperis status.
Electronic Filing Through eFlex
Before using the eFlex portal, you need to attend an online training session, pay a one-time $100 registration fee, and submit a user agreement to create your account.4Arkansas Judiciary. eFile Instructions The $100 is a one-time cost and does not recur with future filings.
On top of the statutory filing fee, every new domestic relations case filed electronically carries a $20 electronic filing fee authorized by Administrative Order 21. It is non-refundable. Filers who receive court permission to proceed in forma pauperis are exempt from the electronic fee, as are prosecutors filing on behalf of the state, except in child-support cases.5Justia Law. In re Admin. Order No. 21 – Electronic Filing
Once the clerk accepts the cover sheet with the petition, a permanent case number is assigned and the matter enters the court’s case-management system. That number appears on every document filed afterward, so keep a copy as soon as you receive it.
Mistakes That Get the Sheet Bounced
A few errors come up often enough to watch for before you file:
- Names on the cover sheet that do not match the petition exactly. Even a middle initial on one form but not the other can send the paperwork back.
- Checking more than one case type. The form explicitly says to select only one.
- Forgetting the Confidential Information Sheet when the case involves children.
- Leaving the DL/State ID field blank.