Arkansas Affidavit of Financial Means: What It Is and How to Complete It

Every Arkansas divorce requires both spouses to complete the Affidavit of Financial Means — a standardized, sworn financial disclosure mandated by Arkansas Supreme Court Administrative Order Number 10. You cannot skip it, abbreviate it, or submit it late without consequences.

This seven-page form is filed under penalty of perjury. Deliberate omissions or false statements can result in criminal contempt of court, financial sanctions, payment of your spouse's attorney's fees, or up to six months in jail.

What the Affidavit Requires

The form demands a comprehensive, line-item breakdown of your financial life:

Monthly income — gross wages, bonuses, commissions, self-employment earnings, investment income, trust distributions, and public benefits. Arkansas courts want the full picture, not just your W-2 salary.

Allowable deductions — only specific items can be subtracted from gross wages: federal and state income taxes, FICA (Social Security and Medicare), and health insurance premiums paid specifically for the children in the case. Voluntary deductions like 401(k) contributions, union dues, loan repayments, and life insurance premiums cannot be deducted.

Monthly expenses — detailed household, transportation, medical, and personal expenditures.

Assets and debts — cash on hand, bank accounts, real estate, stocks, bonds, and tables of both joint and individual debts showing total balances and monthly payments.

Required Supporting Documents

The affidavit is legally invalid without the right attachments:

• W-2 employees must attach their last three consecutive paystubs
• Self-employed individuals must attach complete copies of their last two years of federal and state income tax returns, including all schedules and quarterly estimates for the current year

If you're self-employed and your income varies — seasonal work, commissions, freelance projects — the form requires you to annualize your irregular earnings. Getting this calculation wrong is one of the most common mistakes on the affidavit.

The Deadline

Both parties must complete and exchange this affidavit at least three days before any court hearing where financial matters, child support, or spousal support are at issue. This isn't optional. Failing to exchange or supply the original notarized document to the court can trigger contempt proceedings.

Why a Dry Run Matters

The Affidavit of Financial Means asks for numbers you probably don't have memorized: the exact outstanding balance on your second mortgage, your spouse's annual bonus averaged over three years, the current value of a retirement account you haven't checked in months.

Gathering this information under the pressure of a court deadline leads to errors. And errors on a sworn, notarized document carry real legal risk.

A better approach: organize your financial records systematically before you sit down with the official form. Pull three months of bank statements, gather loan statements for every outstanding debt, request current balances on all retirement accounts, and calculate your true monthly expenses from actual spending (not estimates).

The Arkansas Divorce Financial Split Guide includes a practice worksheet designed to mirror the affidavit's exact line items. You fill in the practice version first, verify every number against source documents, and then transfer the confirmed figures to the official court form. One pass to get it right — no corrections, no amendments, no contempt risk.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Underreporting income. Courts can subpoena bank records. If your affidavit says you earn $4,000/month but deposits show $6,500, you have a credibility problem that extends to everything else in your case.

Forgetting irregular income. Bonuses, rental income, side-gig earnings, and dividends all count. The form asks for total income from all sources.

Deducting voluntary contributions. Your 401(k) contribution reduces your take-home pay, but Arkansas courts do not allow it as a deduction on the affidavit. Report your gross income before voluntary deductions.

Estimating expenses instead of calculating them. Judges see hundreds of these forms. An expense section full of round numbers ($500 for groceries, $200 for gas, $100 for clothing) signals guesswork, which undermines your credibility on the income and asset sections too.

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