USA – ARKANSAS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Aaron Bundy and Hannah Lange, Bundy Law
Bundy Law 240 South Main Street Suite 280 Bentonville AR 72712 USA
Tel: +1 479 579 2121 Fax: +1 918 512 4998 Email: info@bundy.law Web: www.bundylawoffice.com
The Extent to Which Conduct Is a Factor in Assessing Child and Spousal Support Claims in Arkansas Child support and spousal support (alimony) are both court-ordered financial obligations that involve payments from one parent or spouse to the other. Child support and alimony have differ - ent underlying policies, purposes, and determin - ing factors. Although the conduct, behaviour or fault of one parent or spouse may have led to the demise of the relationship and the disintegration of the nuclear family, conduct is not a factor for determining either child support or alimony. As a result, there is often a disconnect between the reason for separation or divorce and the infor - mation necessary to assess child support and spousal support claims. Calculation of child support In 2020, Arkansas reformed its child support cal - culation, moving to an “income shares model”. Per the Arkansas Supreme Court, the income shares model is based on the concept that children should receive the same proportion of parental income that they would have received had the parents lived together and shared finan -
cial resources. The guidelines are presumptive, and a deviation from the guidelines requires writ - ten findings and an explanation for the deviation. The Arkansas Supreme Court provides a non- exclusive list of factors that trial courts should consider when determining whether a deviation is appropriate, including the cost of education, the cost of insurance, significant income for the children, and whether there is a trust fund for the children. The underlying policy is that chil - dren should not have their resources diminished based on the decisions of their adult parents. Prior to 2020, child support was based primar - ily on the income of the child support payor. According to economic data, moving to an income shares model is a national trend and represents a policy shift towards shared finan - cial responsibility of raising children. Following review of Arkansas’ child support guidelines in the context of national research and trends, a formal report to the Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement said: “The income shares model can better accommodate adjustments for specific case factors than the percentage-of- obligated parent income guidelines model can. This includes adjustments for additional children
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