Child Support

To determine child support, the court will use a family support chart that is available on the Arkansas Judiciary website. The court will assume that the amount in the chart is appropriate unless there are specific reasons it would be unfair or inappropriate.¹ The court can also reduce the amount if the child is staying with the parent who is paying child support for long periods of time.²

The Arkansas Judiciary website also has a child support calculator that estimates the amount of child support to be ordered.

When filing an initial child support petition, the judge can order the non-custodial parent to make a retroactive payment covering the three years before the petition was filed. If the child is younger than three years old, the retroactive payment can go back to the date of birth of the child. If a child over 18 is the person applying for child support, s/he can ask the judge to order support for the last three years prior to turning 18.³

¹ Ark. Code § 9-14-106(a)(1)
² Ark. Code § 9-14-106(a)(2)
³ Ark. Code §§ 9-14-105(c)(2); 9-14-106(c)(1)