Is Arkansas an At-Fault State for Divorce? Grounds and 18 Months

Arkansas is an at-fault state for divorce, with one limited no-fault alternative. To end a marriage here, you either prove your spouse committed one of five fault grounds listed in state law, or you live separately and apart from your spouse for 18 continuous months and file on that basis. There is no quick “irreconcilable differences” filing of the kind many other states allow, which makes Arkansas one of the more restrictive states on this question.

The Fault Grounds You Can File On

Arkansas Code § 9-12-301 lists the specific reasons a court will grant a divorce. The burden is on the filing spouse to show the behavior fits the legal definition. The recognized fault grounds are:

Adultery — a sexual relationship outside the marriage.
Habitual drunkenness for one year — a persistent pattern of intoxication lasting at least a year that makes living together intolerable.
Cruel and barbarous treatment — physical acts that endanger your life, including documented domestic violence or repeated physical threats.
General indignities — a sustained pattern of behavior such as persistent rudeness, contempt, or deliberate neglect that makes your life genuinely burdensome.
Conviction of a felony or other infamous crime — your spouse has been convicted of a serious crime as classified under Arkansas law.¹

General indignities is the fault ground used most often because it covers a broad range of marital misconduct that doesn’t rise to physical violence. Broad is not the same as easy. Courts look for a habitual course of conduct — a pattern of mistreatment over time that effectively destroyed the marriage. A few bad arguments or a rough stretch won’t qualify. The behavior has to be sustained enough that your situation became genuinely unbearable.

Cruel and barbarous treatment is narrower than it sounds. Arkansas courts interpret it as requiring physical danger to the filing spouse, not emotional cruelty alone. If the mistreatment was psychological rather than physical, general indignities is the better fit.

The Only No-Fault Option: 18 Months Apart

Arkansas offers exactly one path that doesn’t require you to prove wrongdoing. You and your spouse must live separate and apart for 18 continuous months before you can file on this ground.¹

Continuous is the key word. During those 18 months, you cannot cohabit or resume sexual intimacy. If you try to reconcile and move back in together, the clock resets to zero. Courts apply this strictly. Even a short stretch of living under the same roof can restart the timeline, so a single weekend of second-guessing can add another year and a half to the process.

The practical challenge is maintaining two households for that long, especially when finances are already stretched. If you need financial help during the separation, Arkansas allows you to file a motion for temporary support (called pendente lite relief) asking the court to order spousal or child support while the divorce is pending. That temporary order stays in effect until the court enters a final decree.

Does Proving Fault Change What You Get?

This is usually the real question behind “is Arkansas an at-fault state.” The honest answer: fault can matter, but it does not automatically shift the outcome in your favor.

For property, Arkansas starts with a presumption of equal division. All marital property gets split 50/50 unless the court finds that an equal split would be inequitable.² The court has discretion to adjust the split based on factors like each spouse’s earning capacity and contributions to the marriage. Proving fault doesn’t automatically tilt the property balance, but it can be one factor the court weighs when deciding whether equal is fair.

For alimony, the statute gives courts broad discretion to award support based on “the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case.”³ Arkansas courts tend to favor rehabilitative alimony, fixed payments for a set period designed to help a lower-earning spouse become self-supporting. Marital misconduct can factor in, but it is not the only consideration. Don’t count on a fault finding to guarantee a larger support award; courts look at the full financial picture.

The Five-Year Limit on Fault

One rule catches people off guard. The grounds for divorce must have occurred or existed within five years before you file. If the misconduct you’re citing happened more than five years ago and nothing has happened since, the court may reject it. This time limit applies to all fault-based grounds, so stale complaints won’t carry a case.

Corroboration: Why You Need a Witness

Arkansas has a corroboration rule that trips up people who assume an uncontested divorce is just paperwork. The requirements depend on whether your case is contested and on what you’re trying to prove.

In uncontested divorces, where both spouses agree, corroboration of the fault grounds is not required. In contested cases, the other spouse can waive the corroboration requirement in writing. But whether the case is contested or not, two things always need corroboration: your residency and, in separation-based cases, the fact that you’ve lived apart continuously without cohabiting.⁴

In uncontested cases, that corroboration can come through live testimony or a verified affidavit from someone other than you or your spouse. In practice, a friend, neighbor, family member, or coworker who can confirm where you’ve been living and for how long will do. For contested cases on fault grounds where corroboration hasn’t been waived, the witness needs firsthand knowledge of the behavior you’re alleging.

If You Have a Covenant Marriage

Arkansas is one of only three states (with Louisiana and Arizona) that recognizes covenant marriages, a special designation couples choose at the time of marriage. If you entered a covenant marriage, the standard grounds described above do not apply to you in the same way. Covenant marriages are governed by the Covenant Marriage Act of 2001, at Arkansas Code § 9-11-803, which imposes additional restrictions before a court will grant a dissolution.⁵

Covenant marriages typically require premarital counseling before the wedding and counseling again before a divorce can proceed, and the grounds for dissolving one are narrower than for a standard marriage. If you’re unsure which type you have, check your marriage license; the declaration of intent would have been part of your application. The distinction matters because filing under the wrong set of rules wastes time and money.