§ 9-14-105 - Petition for support. - Arkansas Statutes

9-14-105. Petition for support.

(a) The circuit courts in the several counties in this state shall have exclusive jurisdiction in all civil cases and matters relating to the support of a minor child or support owed to a person eighteen (18) or older that accrued during that person's minority.

(b) The following may file a petition to require the noncustodial parent or parents of a minor child to provide support for the minor child:

(1) Any parent having physical custody of a minor child;

(2) Any other person or agency to whom physical custody of a minor child has been given or relinquished;

(3) A minor child by and through his or her guardian or next friend; or

(4) The Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Revenue Division of the Department of Finance and Administration when the parent or person to whom physical custody has been relinquished or awarded is receiving assistance in the form of Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid, Title IV-E of the Social Security Act -- Foster Care, or has contracted with the department for the collection of support.

(c) Any person eighteen (18) years of age or above to whom support was owed during his or her minority may file a petition for a judgment against the nonsupporting parent or parents. Upon hearing, a judgment may be entered upon proof by a preponderance of the evidence for the amount of support owed and unpaid.

(d) As used in this subchapter:

(1) "Minor child" means a child less than eighteen (18) years of age; and

(2) "Noncustodial parent" means a parent who resides outside the household or institution in which the minor child resides.

(e) Any action filed pursuant to this subchapter may be brought at any time up to and including five (5) years from the date the child reaches eighteen (18) years of age.

(f) This section shall apply to all actions pending as of March 29, 1991, and filed thereafter and shall retroactively apply to all child support orders now existing.