Cohabitation laws in Arkansas give unmarried couples almost none of the automatic legal rights that come with marriage. The state’s constitution goes further than most and explicitly prohibits creating any legal status for unmarried partners that resembles marriage. That means no matter how long you have lived together, shared bills, or presented yourselves as a couple, Arkansas does not treat you as spouses for inheritance, property division, medical decisions, or federal benefits. The one meaningful exception is domestic violence protection, where cohabiting partners stand on equal footing with married couples.
No Common-Law Marriage
Arkansas Constitutional Amendment 83 states that any legal status for unmarried persons that is “identical or substantially similar to marital status” is not valid or recognized in the state.1Justia. Arkansas Constitution Amendment 83 – Marriage You cannot form a common-law marriage here, and time alone will not convert your relationship into one. If you and your partner established a valid common-law marriage in a state that recognizes them before moving to Arkansas, that marriage can still be honored under Arkansas Code 9-11-107(a).2Social Security Administration. SSA POMS PR 05605.005 – Arkansas Otherwise, everything that follows from marriage in Arkansas has to be built manually through contracts and estate planning documents.
Property You Own Together (Or Don’t)
Arkansas treats each cohabiting partner as a separate individual for property purposes. If your name is not on the title or deed, you have no ownership interest, regardless of how much you contributed or how long you have lived in the home. There is no marital property to divide if the relationship ends.
When unmarried partners buy property together, the deed language matters enormously. Arkansas recognizes two forms of shared ownership available to unmarried couples. Joint tenancy gives both partners equal interest in the whole property, and when one partner dies, the survivor automatically becomes the sole owner. Tenancy in common gives each partner an undivided fractional interest with no automatic right of survivorship, so a deceased partner’s share passes through their estate rather than to the surviving partner.
Tenancy by the entirety, the third form of co-ownership in Arkansas, is reserved for married couples. If you want survivorship protection with your partner, the deed has to explicitly create a joint tenancy. Getting this detail wrong is the kind of thing that only surfaces at the worst possible moment.
Inheritance Without a Will
Arkansas intestate succession law leaves out unmarried partners entirely. When someone dies without a will, the estate passes to children first, then to a surviving spouse, then to parents, then to siblings, and on down through more distant relatives.3Justia. Arkansas Code 28-9-214 – Tables of Descents A cohabiting partner appears nowhere on that list.
If your partner dies without a will, you inherit nothing under Arkansas law. Not the house, not the accounts held in their name, not the personal property you shared. Their children or their parents take priority automatically. The only reliable way to prevent this is for each partner to sign a will naming the other as a beneficiary.
Medical Decisions If Your Partner Is Incapacitated
Hospitals default to family members when deciding who can make medical decisions for an incapacitated patient, and Arkansas does not treat a cohabiting partner as family for this purpose. Without a signed document, your partner could be shut out of treatment decisions entirely.
The fix is a durable power of attorney for health care under Arkansas Code 20-6-103. Any adult can designate an agent to make healthcare decisions if they lose capacity. The document must be in writing, signed by you, and either notarized or witnessed by two competent adults. At least one witness must not be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption and must not be entitled to any part of your estate. Once signed, your agent can act without court approval.
The document takes effect only when you are found to lack capacity, and you can revoke it any time while you still have capacity. One quirk to know: if you and your partner later marry and then divorce, the divorce automatically revokes your former spouse’s designation. If you never marry and simply separate, you have to revoke the document yourself.
Children and Paternity for Unmarried Parents
When unmarried parents have a child in Arkansas, the mother has sole legal custody by default. A biological father who wants custody or visitation must first establish paternity. The simplest route is a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, which both parents can sign at the hospital or later through the Department of Health. Once filed, the acknowledgment is a conclusive finding of paternity and creates a legal parent-child relationship without a separate court proceeding.4Justia. Arkansas Code 9-10-120 – Effect of Acknowledgment of Paternity
Once paternity is established, an unmarried father can petition the circuit court for custody. The court weighs whether the father is fit, whether he has taken responsibility through care and financial support, and whether custody serves the child’s best interest. Even when full custody is not awarded, the court is directed to grant visitation that ensures frequent and continuing contact with both parents.5Justia. Arkansas Code 9-10-113 – Custody of Child Born Outside of Marriage
Until paternity is formally established, the father has no legal standing to seek custody or visitation, and there is no court-ordered child support obligation. Delay hurts everyone involved.
Debts and Shared Finances
Living together does not make you responsible for your partner’s debts. Credit cards, student loans, and other debts in one partner’s name alone stay with that partner. Moving in, having a child, or years of shared life does not change that.
Shared liability arises only when you actively combine your finances. Joint credit cards, joint bank accounts, co-signed loans, and jointly titled vehicles all create legal obligations for both partners. If you co-sign your partner’s car loan and they stop paying, the lender can pursue you for the full balance.
The flip side is that unmarried couples get none of the protections married couples receive when a relationship ends. Arkansas courts divide marital property equitably in a divorce. There is no equivalent process for cohabiting couples. If you split up, you are left with contract law and whatever you put in writing beforehand.
Taxes and Social Security
Cohabiting partners must each file federal taxes as single. You cannot file a joint return, and a partner does not qualify you for head of household filing status, even if they live with you full-time and you support them financially.6Internal Revenue Service. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions for Registered Domestic Partners and Individuals in Civil Unions Head of household requires a qualifying child or other qualifying dependent.
Social Security survivor benefits are the other big gap. If your partner dies, you cannot collect survivor benefits based on their earnings record, no matter how long you lived together or how financially dependent you were. Only a surviving spouse or qualifying ex-spouse who was married at least ten years is eligible. For a surviving partner, that can mean tens of thousands of dollars in lost annual income.
Domestic Violence Protections Apply Equally
This is the area where Arkansas law does treat cohabiting partners the same as spouses. Arkansas Code 5-26-302 defines “family or household member” to include anyone who presently or in the past has lived with or cohabited with the other person, as well as people in a dating relationship.7Justia. Arkansas Code 5-26-302 – Definitions That definition governs the domestic battering and assault statutes, so violence between cohabiting partners carries the same criminal penalties as violence between spouses, including felony charges that can rise as high as a Class Y felony in the most serious cases.8Justia. Arkansas Code 5-26-303 – Domestic Battering in the First Degree
Cohabiting partners can also petition for an order of protection under Arkansas Code 9-15-201, which lets any adult family or household member file on their own behalf.9Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-201 – Petition – Requirements Generally A protection order can restrain the respondent from harassing, stalking, or threatening the protected person and their children, and can prohibit any conduct that would place the protected person in reasonable fear of bodily injury.10Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-207 – Order of Protection – Enforcement – Penalties – Criminal Jurisdiction Being unmarried is no barrier to seeking one.
Cohabitation Agreements and the Documents That Fill the Gap
Because Arkansas gives cohabiting couples so little by default, a written cohabitation agreement is the most important step most couples can take. It is a contract between two adults that spells out how property, finances, and responsibilities will be handled during the relationship and if it ends.
A cohabitation agreement can address:
- Who owns what property, including anything acquired together during the relationship
- How rent, mortgage, utilities, and household expenses are divided
- Which partner is liable for which debts, individually or jointly
- How shared assets and debts will be divided if the relationship ends
Arkansas courts enforce contracts between competent adults, so a properly drafted agreement has real legal weight. Put it in writing, be specific, and have each partner consult their own attorney before signing. Drafting fees typically run several hundred dollars, far less than a contested dispute costs when there is no agreement.
The cohabitation agreement is only part of the package. Each partner should also sign a will naming the other as beneficiary, a healthcare power of attorney, and a financial power of attorney. Married couples get versions of all of this automatically. Unmarried couples in Arkansas build it document by document, or go without.