Administrative Order No. 10 probably provides more Arkansas child support law than any other single document. Therefore there’s no better place to start if you have questions about Arkansas child support, how its calculated, what you can deduct, etc. Here’s the link to Administrative Order No. 10… http://courts.state.ar.us/pdf/admin_order10.pdf

Excellent website for information on divorces and military personnel.

Here’s the link… http://usmilitary.about.com/od/familydomestic/United_States_Military_Family_and_Domestic_and_Military_Divorce.htm

A court’s jurisdiction over parents of a child is invoked by the initial pleading filed by a party. This is usually a divorce complaint or paternity petition. The court will make orders that govern the parties regarding custody of the children, visitation, child support, etc. The final order entered governs the parties in their future dealings with each other.

Its important to understand this background when examining the legal consequences of the custodial parent’s death. Arkansas law holds that when the custodial parent dies the court no longer has jurisdiction over the parties. This is so because the court’s primary purpose in the case (ie. to govern the rights and duties of the parties and settle their disputes) is no longer needed. As a result, the final order entered by the court is considered abated upon the death of the custodial parent.

All of this of course means that upon the death of the custodial parent, custody of the children will generally immediately pass to the non-custodial parent. No legal action should be needed by the non-custodial parent to make this effective.

Here’s a link to the most recent case discussing this issue… http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/2005a/20050427/ca041172.html

People come to my office in various stages of their decision-making process on whether to get divorced. Some have just started thinking about it and want some questions answered. Others have been thinking about it for months or years. Others have decided on all the issues of the divorce, gotten an agreement from their spouse, and are ready for me to just officially finalize the divorce for them.

But knowing if someone is truly ready for the divorce process, or to be divorced for that matter, is an entirely different question. Check out this article which contains 8 questions to ask yourself to help determine if you’re ready.

Here’s the link… http://www.divorcemag.com/articles/Separation_Divorce_Process/legal-ready.html

Hiring an attorney can be about as enjoyable as going to the dentist. Here are some tips to ease the pain:
· Ask those you trust about attorneys they know.
· Make sure the attorney has experience in your type of case. If you are divorcing, do not hire an attorney that only handles personal injury cases, and vice versa.
· Ask the attorney about legal fees and costs of the case. Yes, they are two different things. Fees are what will be paid to the attorney for his time. Costs are expenses for your case – court fees, subpoena fees, court reporter costs for depositions, copies, postage, etc.
· Ask the attorney questions. Does he understand what you want to accomplish? Follow your intuition – if you do not like his answers, then you will probably not like his services.