Use this free Arkansas alimony calculator to see how Ark. Code § 9-12-312 and Arkansas case law may apply to your situation. Arkansas has no alimony formula and no duration table, so the calculator follows what courts actually weigh: the recipient's need and the payor's ability to pay, then the secondary factors. The same state law applies whether your divorce is filed in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Fayetteville (Washington County), Bentonville (Benton County), Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Jonesboro (Craighead County) or anywhere else in Arkansas. It also shows whether rehabilitative or longer-term alimony looks more likely and flags the events that would end alimony.
The court orders alimony, if applicable, as reasonable from the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case.
Ark. Code § 9-12-312(a)(1)
The primary factors are one spouse's need and the other spouse's ability to pay. Secondary factors include income, resources, earning ability and the standard of living.
Boyles v. Boyles, 268 Ark. 120 (1980)
May be awarded in fixed installments for a specified period. A court can require a rehabilitation plan to judge feasibility, amount and duration.
Ark. Code § 9-12-312(b)
Alimony ends at remarriage, full-time intimate cohabitation, death of either party, or other listed events, unless the court or parties provide otherwise.
Ark. Code § 9-12-312(a)(2)
Fault is not an alimony factor unless it meaningfully relates to need or ability to pay.
Arkansas Judges' Benchbook
Either party may petition at any time on a significant and material change of circumstances.
Ark. Code § 9-12-312(a)(7)
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An attorney should review your agreement.
Illustrative monthly amount
Arkansas courts look at need and ability to pay first. This tool measures both from the figures you entered.
Arkansas courts weigh these case-law factors together; they are listed for discussion with an attorney, not scored.
Arkansas Code, Title 9, Chapter 12
What it says: The court makes an alimony order, if applicable, as reasonable from the circumstances and the nature of the case; lists the events that end alimony automatically; lets either party seek modification on a significant and material change of circumstances; and provides for rehabilitative alimony with an optional plan of rehabilitation.
Arkansas Supreme Court
Point cited: The leading source for the secondary factors Arkansas courts weigh in setting alimony, and for the purpose of alimony: to rectify, as far as reasonably possible, the economic imbalance in earning power and standard of living.
No. CA02-133, Arkansas Court of Appeals
Holding summary: The primary factors in awarding alimony are one spouse's need and the other spouse's ability to pay. Secondary factors include the financial circumstances of both parties, the amount and nature of income, and the extent and nature of each party's resources and assets.
Arkansas Judicial Branch
Points cited: Fault is not a factor in awarding alimony unless it meaningfully relates to need or ability to pay; income may be imputed to an unemployed or underemployed spouse; and rehabilitative alimony is analyzed using the same factors as longer-term alimony.
Summaries are for general information and may not reflect later developments. Have an attorney confirm the current status of any authority before relying on it.
Arkansas has no alimony formula. Under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-312(a)(1), when a decree is entered the court makes an order concerning alimony, if applicable, as is reasonable from the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case. Whether to award alimony, how much and for how long are left to the judge's discretion.
Arkansas case law says the purpose of alimony is to rectify, as far as reasonably possible, the economic imbalance in the earning power and standard of living of the divorced parties. The primary factors are one spouse's need and the other spouse's ability to pay. Secondary factors include the financial circumstances of both parties, the past standard of living, the amount and nature of each party's current and anticipated income, the extent and nature of each party's resources and assets, earning ability, the property awarded in the divorce, and the length of the marriage (Boyles v. Boyles, 268 Ark. 120 (1980); Powell v. Powell, No. CA02-133 (Ark. App. 2003)).
If a spouse is unemployed or working below earning capacity, a court may impute income according to what could be earned.
The statute provides for alimony and specifically for rehabilitative alimony, which may be awarded in fixed installments for a specified period of time (§ 9-12-312(b)(1)). When rehabilitative alimony is requested, the payor may request, or the court may require, a plan of rehabilitation so the court can decide whether the plan is feasible and what the amount and duration should be (§ 9-12-312(b)(2)). If the recipient fails to meet the plan, the payor may petition for review (§ 9-12-312(b)(3)).
Arkansas has no table of durations. Courts also order temporary alimony while a case is pending, and may order longer-term alimony that has no set end date and continues until a termination event or a modification. Rehabilitative alimony is analyzed under the same factors as longer-term alimony.
Unless the court orders or the parties agree otherwise, liability for alimony automatically ceases on the earliest of: the recipient's remarriage; a relationship that produces a child and results in a court order directing another person to pay support to the recipient (treated as the equivalent of remarriage); a relationship that produces a child and results in an order directing the recipient to support a person who is not the payor's descendant (also treated as the equivalent of remarriage); the recipient living full time with another person in an intimate, cohabitating relationship; the death of either party; or any other contingency stated in the order (§ 9-12-312(a)(2)).
Section 9-12-312 does not list fault as a factor. According to the Arkansas Circuit Courts Judges' Benchbook, fault is not a factor in awarding alimony unless it meaningfully relates to need or ability to pay. For example, conduct that wasted marital money or reduced a spouse's ability to earn can matter because of its financial effect. Fault grounds for divorce are a separate question from alimony.
Yes. Both a person paying alimony and a person receiving it may petition the court at any time for review, modification or both, based on a significant and material change of circumstances (§ 9-12-312(a)(7)). The primary factors, need and ability to pay, are the ones courts look at when changing an award. The statute does not define what counts as significant and material, so courts decide case by case. Keep paying until a court order or a termination event under § 9-12-312(a)(2) applies.
Child support in Arkansas is set using the family support chart, which carries a rebuttable presumption that its amount is correct (§ 9-12-312(a)(3)). The amount of child support is one of the financial circumstances a court weighs when it decides what a payor can afford to pay in alimony, so this calculator subtracts the child support you enter from the payor's available money.
For divorce or separation agreements executed after December 31, 2018, alimony is not deductible by the payor and is not taxable income to the recipient for federal income tax purposes, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. That change has no scheduled expiration. Agreements executed on or before December 31, 2018 keep the old federal treatment unless a later modification expressly states that the new rules apply. Ask a tax professional how your Arkansas return treats alimony.
Because Arkansas has no formula, the calculator follows the two primary factors courts use. It measures the recipient's monthly need (counted expenses minus income) and the payor's ability to pay (income minus the payor's expenses and child support). The illustrative amount is the smaller of the two. It then uses the marriage length, ages, earning capacity, disability and any rehabilitation plan you enter to indicate whether rehabilitative or longer-term alimony looks more likely. Those indicators are screening thresholds chosen for this tool, not Arkansas law.
It does not predict an award. A judge may weigh the secondary factors, the property division and credibility very differently.
Alimony law differs across the country. See the national alimony calculator for a general benchmark, or browse the calculators for every state.