USA – ARKANSAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kathleen Egan, Hannah Lange and Aaron Bundy, Bundy Law
to Administrative Order No 20, or by alternative delivery of certified mail, first-class mail, or deliv - ery service in particular circumstances (Rule 4 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure). There is a strong preference for personal service. Annulments in Arkansas are available in limited circumstances, as laid out in Section 9-12-201 of the Arkansas Code Annotated. These circum - stances include one or both of the parties being below the age of legal marriage (18 years of age without parental consent), one or both of the parties was unable to comprehend the marriage owing to mental incapacity or other incapacity, one or both of the parties were unable to physi - cally consummate the marriage, or one or both of the parties were forced into the marriage or convinced to agree by fraud or other deception. 1.2 Choice of Jurisdiction The jurisdiction of divorce proceedings in Arkan - sas falls under Section 9-12-303 et seq of the Arkansas Code Annotated. A divorce may be filed in the county in which the plaintiff resides. If the plaintiff is not a resident of the State of Arkansas, and the defendant is, the plaintiff may file the matter in the county in which the defend - ant resides. To meet the residency requirements for divorce in Arkansas, either the Plaintiff or the Defendant must be a resident of the state for at least 60 days preceding the filing of the action and continue living in the state for 30 days after the filing of the action, for a total of 90 days of residency before the final divorce can be grant - ed. At the time of writing (January 2025), there are no separate jurisdictional requirements in the Arkansas Code Annotated for same-sex spouses. In Arkansas, domicile and residence are distinct concepts (Rule 2.26-51-102(9) of the Arkansas Administrative Code). Based on Arkansas tax
regulations, there is a three-prong test, and sat - isfaction of any one prong is sufficient to estab - lish a party’s residency in Arkansas. • Any person domiciled in the State of Arkan - sas – domicile comprises an act coupled with an intent. A domicile is acquired by physical presence at a place coinciding with the state of mind (ie, intent) of regarding the place as a permanent home. A domicile arises instan - taneously when these two facts occur. Every person must have one domicile but can have no more than one domicile, regardless of how many residences a person may have at any given time. A domicile, once established, continues until a new domicile of choice is legally established. An established domicile does not end by lack of physical presence alone nor by mental intent alone. The old domicile must be abandoned with the inten - tion not to return to it. If one moves to a new location but intends to stay there only for a limited period of time (no matter how long), the domicile does not become the new loca - tion but rather remains unchanged. • Any person who maintains a permanent place of abode within Arkansas and spends in the aggregate more than six months of the year within Arkansas – place of abode means a place where a person has established a per - manent home, even though such person may be absent therefrom for a long period of time. A temporary home or residence would not be considered a place of abode, as there must be at least some degree of permanence. In addition, a person must actually spend more than six months of the tax year in Arkansas to fall within the scope of this provision. Place of abode and residence are considered to mean roughly the same thing. However, domicile and residence are not considered to be synony -
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