How to modify child custody and parenting time in Arkansas
Sources last checked 7 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. This page rests on two sources: the text of Arkansas Code 9-13-101 (the main custody statute, read in an excerpt of its key subsections; we also read 9-13-104, which does not concern modification) and the Arkansas Judiciary’s domestic relations benchbook, a guide written for judges that summarizes the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions on changing custody. We did not read those decisions, and the general test for changing custody below comes from the benchbook, not from the statute. Arkansas uses “custody” and “visitation” or “parenting time”. Read what we could not confirm below.
The short version
Arkansas makes custody harder to change than it was to set. The benchbook says an award of custody “should not be modified unless it is shown that there are changed conditions” showing the change is in the child’s best interest, or that facts affecting the child’s best interest were not presented to or known by the judge when the original order was entered. The parent asking for the change carries the burden of proof. The benchbook also says the same material-change test applies to a visitation case as to a custody case.
The test, step by step
- Material change first. Citing the Arkansas Supreme Court, the benchbook says custody can be modified only on a showing of a material change of circumstances, to promote stability and continuity in the child’s life and discourage repeated litigation of the same issues.
- Then best interest. Before ordering a change, the court must find that a material change has occurred since the decree and then that the modification is in the child’s best interest.
- Unknown facts also count. Proof of material facts unknown to the court when it made the order can support a change, not only events after the order.
- Burden on you. The party seeking modification must prove the change. The benchbook says courts generally apply stricter standards to modifications than to first-time custody decisions.
- Not a change you made yourself. Citing the Arkansas Supreme Court, the benchbook says a party cannot use circumstances he or she created as grounds to modify custody.
- Visitation. The test for a material change is the same whether the case is about visitation or custody.
What the statute itself says
- The joint-custody presumption is for first orders. Section 9-13-101 creates a rebuttable presumption that joint custody is in the child’s best interest, but it applies to “an original child custody determination” in a divorce or paternity case. As written, it does not say the presumption applies when you ask to change an existing order. The benchbook warns that some of its case law may predate the 2021 changes.
- Willfully creating conflict. If a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that one parent shows “a pattern of willfully creating conflict” to disrupt a joint-custody arrangement, and it cannot reduce the conflict by order, it may deem that behavior “a material change of circumstances” and change joint custody to primary custody for the other parent.
- Deployment. If a modification is based on a parent’s active duty or deployment in the armed forces, the statute says it shall “Be temporary” and revert to the previous decree when the deployment or federal active duty ends, unless both parties consent to continue it. The duty status counts as the equivalent of daily parental presence.
- Best interest always applies. The statute says a court shall consider the best interest of the child in any custody determination, and a parent without custody is entitled to reasonable parenting time unless the court finds after a hearing that it would seriously endanger the child.
Moving away
- A move alone is not enough. The benchbook says relocation of a custodial parent and children is not, by itself, a material change in circumstance justifying a change in custody.
- Presumption for a primary custodian. A presumption favors relocation by a custodial parent with primary custody, and the other parent has the burden to rebut it. Under the later Cooper decision, it applies only where that parent is the labeled primary custodian and also spends significantly more time with the child.
- Joint custody. In a joint custody case, the benchbook says a parent is not entitled to that presumption, and the court analyzes a request to change custody because of a move much like any other change-in-custody request.
- Factors. The best interest of the child is the guide, and the court considers the reason for the move, the educational, health and leisure opportunities, the visitation and communication schedule for the other parent, the effect on extended family relationships, and the child’s preference.
Fees and a few related rules
- Attorney fees. The benchbook says the court has inherent authority to award attorney fees in custody modification cases.
- Other states’ orders. It says an Arkansas court may not modify another state’s custody determination unless it has jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. If a child has moved between states, read this before filing.
What we could not confirm
- The rest of the statutes. We read an excerpt of Arkansas Code 9-13-101 and all of 9-13-104. We also read section 9-13-104, which only bars handing a child between parents on public school property during school hours and says nothing about modification. We did not read other statutes, and the section 9-13-101 text we read does not itself state the general material-change test. That test, and the unchanged-law caveat from 2021, come from the benchbook.
- What counts as material. We read none of the opinions it cites, so we cannot describe which changes judges have accepted.
- Forms and filing. We did not confirm a statewide form, filing fees, fee waivers, mediation or parenting class requirements, or the rules of the circuit court where you would file.
- Relocation notice. We did not confirm any statutory notice period before a move.
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