Arkansas gives you blank court forms. They don't explain how to fill them in.
You've found the domestic relations cover sheet on the Arkansas Judiciary website. You've realized it asks for your proposed parenting schedule, your legal and physical custody arrangement, your holiday rotation, and your child support calculation. But it doesn't tell you how to structure a parenting plan that satisfies the Act 604 joint custody presumption. It doesn't explain how the 141-overnight threshold under Administrative Order No. 10 changes your child support from a standard calculation to the shared-custody offset method. And it doesn't walk you through what your circuit court's standard visitation schedule actually looks like — or why Benton County's default mid-week overnight is completely different from Washington County's two-hour evening visit.
Meanwhile, a family law attorney in Arkansas charges $250–$400 per hour. A typical contested custody case runs $5,000 to $25,000. Two or three of those billable hours go to the lawyer asking you questions you could have answered yourself — if someone had told you what the questions were and how to think through the answers.
You don't need someone to write your parenting plan for you. You need to understand what the plan requires before you sit down to draft it.
The Act 604 Navigation System
This is a complete, step-by-step guide to navigating child custody in Arkansas — built around the specific statutes, court rules, and procedural requirements that make this state different from every other. It is not legal representation and it does not generate court forms. It is the planning intelligence that blank forms and generic legal websites leave out.
At its core is the Act 604 Navigation System — a structured method that takes you from "I know I need a parenting plan but I don't know what the court expects" to a comprehensive, child-focused arrangement that meets the best-interest standard under Arkansas Code Annotated § 9-13-101. It handles the part everyone gets wrong: understanding that Act 604's rebuttable presumption of joint custody means the court starts every initial case assuming approximately equal parenting time — and that overcoming that presumption requires clear and convincing evidence, not just one parent's preference. Calculating your overnights against the 141-night threshold so your proposed schedule doesn't accidentally put you in a different child support tier than you expected. Matching your plan to your specific county's standard visitation schedule — because Benton County defaults to Tuesday overnight mid-week visits and five consecutive summer weeks, while Washington County uses alternating Wednesday evening visits with no overnight and two separate 15-day summer blocks. And preparing structured proposals before mandatory domestic relations mediation so you walk in with options rather than starting from zero on the mediator's clock.
What's inside — the 12-chapter guide, 8 standalone printable worksheets, and the free starter checklist
- The Act 604 Joint Custody Framework — a plain-language breakdown of the 2021 rebuttable presumption of joint custody, how it applies to both divorce and paternity cases, and the specific types of evidence (domestic violence, substance abuse, parental alienation, inability to cooperate) that courts accept as clear and convincing grounds to deviate. Because understanding where the court starts is the only way to know where your case needs to go.
- The Best-Interest Factors — Explained and Applied — every factor an Arkansas circuit court judge evaluates when deciding custody, translated from legal language into concrete evidence you can gather and organize. Includes a self-assessment worksheet so you can evaluate your own position on each factor before your first hearing.
- Parenting Schedule Templates with Overnight Calculations — detailed walkthroughs of alternating weekends, 2-2-3, 2-2-5-5, and week-on/week-off rotations, each with exact overnight counts mapped against the 141-night threshold. Includes age-appropriate adaptations for infants, toddlers, school-age children, and teens. Because a schedule that looks equal on paper can land at 139 overnights and cost you thousands in child support adjustments.
- County-Specific Standard Visitation Schedules — side-by-side comparison of how Benton County (19th Circuit) and Washington County (4th Circuit) structure their default visitation orders, including mid-week visits, weekend transitions, and summer break divisions. Plus guidance on finding your own circuit's standing orders if you're filing outside Northwest Arkansas.
- AO10 Child Support Worksheets — Arkansas's Income Shares Model explained with step-by-step calculation worksheets covering both the standard formula (under 141 overnights) and the shared-custody offset method (141+ overnights). Includes add-on calculations for health insurance and work-related childcare, the Self-Support Reserve threshold, and high-income adjustments above $30,000 combined monthly income.
- Holiday Rotation Planner — a printable worksheet covering every major holiday with alternating odd/even year options, specific transition times, and rules for when holidays override regular weekly schedules. Includes guidance on spring break, Thanksgiving divisions, and summer vacation blocks.
- Parenting Plan Drafting Worksheet — a structured template covering all seven required elements of an Arkansas parenting plan: legal authority allocation, residential schedule, holiday rotation, transportation and exchanges, communication rules, dispute resolution, and right of first refusal. Designed so you can fill it in and hand the completed version to an attorney for a flat-rate review — or file it yourself.
- Mediation Preparation Guide — a step-by-step walkthrough of what to expect in mandatory domestic relations mediation, including the state's Access and Visitation Mediation Program. Comes with a worksheet for drafting structured proposals before the session so you arrive with clear positions, not vague preferences.
- Unmarried Parents Roadmap — how to establish paternity (voluntary acknowledgment vs. court petition), how the Act 604 presumption applies once paternity is confirmed, and the specific filing documents an unmarried parent needs. Because Arkansas law gives an unmarried mother sole custody by default — a father has no legal parenting rights until paternity is established.
- Modification and Enforcement Guide — the material-change-in-circumstances standard for modifying an existing order, common qualifying triggers (relocation, schedule changes, safety concerns), and how to document your case. Plus enforcement tools for when the other parent violates the order — including contempt filings and the 10% annual interest penalty on unpaid child support.
- Safety and Protective Provisions — pre-drafted plan language for supervised visitation, mandatory communication apps, substance testing requirements, and orders of protection. Clear guidance on when a self-help approach is safe, when to use mediation, and the exact indicators that require professional representation.
- Free Starter Checklist — a standalone 20-item parenting plan checklist covering custody basics, the Act 604 presumption, filing deadlines, required court documents, and the domestic relations cover sheet — yours to keep whether or not you get the full guide.
Who this is for
The parent who just learned about Act 604's joint custody presumption and has no idea what "approximately equal parenting time" actually looks like as a weekly schedule. The self-represented filer who downloaded the court's blank forms and realized the blanks don't come with instructions. The parent heading into mandatory mediation who wants to arrive with draft schedules and overnight calculations already done — not start from scratch while the mediator waits. The parent running the overnight math to see whether a proposed schedule crosses the 141-night threshold into shared custody — and what that means for child support under AO10. The unmarried father who needs to establish paternity before he has any legal right to request joint custody. And the parent with an existing custody order that no longer works because jobs changed, children got older, or someone wants to relocate.
Why not just use the free resources?
Because free resources give you definitions, not decisions. The Arkansas Judiciary website provides blank forms and basic filing instructions. Legal Aid of Arkansas explains custody types in general terms. Law firm blogs discuss the best-interest factors to get you to call for a $300 consultation. None of them give you a worksheet that maps your specific week across two households and calculates whether you meet the 141-overnight threshold. None provide mediation preparation worksheets for drafting structured proposals. None walk you through the child support formula with your actual income numbers — or show you exactly how shifting one overnight per week changes your obligation under the AO10 offset method.
The co-parenting apps — CustodyXChange at $72+ per year, OurFamilyWizard at $110–$300 per year per parent — are built for ongoing schedule tracking and parent-to-parent messaging, not initial plan drafting. They don't map Arkansas's Act 604 presumption, the county-specific standard visitation schedules, the mandatory mediation program, or the court filing timeline. They are useful tools after you have an agreement. This guide helps you write the agreement.
A straightforward guarantee
Work through the Act 604 Navigation System. If the guide doesn't give you a clearer, more organized understanding of Arkansas's custody process than any free government page or blank court form could — email us within 30 days for a full refund. The cost of trying it is a fraction of one attorney consultation. The cost of filing an incomplete or poorly structured parenting plan is a rejected motion, a reclassified custody tier, or months of additional litigation.
For — less than fifteen minutes of attorney time — you get the scheduling worksheets, the overnight calculations, the mediation preparation tools, and the parenting plan drafting guide that the blank forms leave out.
Stop guessing what the court expects. Get the guide, build your parenting plan, and walk into your next step — whether that's mediation, a lawyer's office, or the courthouse — with the work already done.