A long-distance parenting plan in Arkansas is a court-approved schedule for parents living far apart, built around extended school-break blocks, structured virtual visitation, and allocated travel costs. Arkansas favors joint custody under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101, but courts modify time when distance makes a 50/50 week-to-week split impractical, prioritizing the child's best interest.
When one parent moves out of state or across Arkansas's 75 counties, the standard alternating-week schedule stops working. This guide explains how Arkansas courts structure a long distance parenting plan Arkansas families can actually live with, how the 2021 joint-custody presumption interacts with distance, what a court expects in your written plan, and how virtual visitation and travel expenses are handled. Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq., prepared this overview to help you understand the framework before you file or request a modification.
Key Facts: Arkansas Divorce and Custody
| Fact | Detail (Arkansas) |
|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $165 paper / $185 e-filing (statewide, as of March 2026) |
| Waiting Period | 30-day minimum from filing before a decree can be entered |
| Residency Requirement | 60 days before filing; 3 months before final decree (§ 9-12-307) |
| Grounds | General indignities or 18-month separation (§ 9-12-301) |
| Property Division Type | Equitable distribution (§ 9-12-315) |
| Custody Standard | Rebuttable presumption of joint custody (§ 9-13-101) |
| Home-State Rule | Child must live in Arkansas 6 months for jurisdiction (UCCJEA, § 9-19-201) |
Fee figures are current as of March 2026. Verify with your local Circuit Clerk before filing, because county surcharges and e-filing costs can change.
What Is a Long-Distance Parenting Plan in Arkansas?
A long-distance parenting plan in Arkansas is a written custody agreement designed for parents who live too far apart for a weekly exchange, typically more than 100 miles or across state lines. It replaces frequent short visits with concentrated blocks: most of summer, alternating major holidays, and extended school breaks, plus scheduled video contact between in-person visits.
Arkansas law does not define a rigid mileage threshold that triggers a "long-distance" designation. Instead, courts apply the best-interest standard under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101 and ask whether the geographic reality makes equal, week-to-week time impractical. In practice, judges treat any arrangement where a parent cannot handle a normal school-week rotation as long distance. The plan then front-loads time into periods the child is not in school, so the out of state parent still receives substantial, meaningful contact. A well-drafted plan specifies exact pickup dates, transportation responsibility, virtual-contact times, and how the schedule shifts as the child ages. Because Arkansas favors joint decision-making even when physical time is unequal, most long-distance plans keep both parents involved in education, medical, and religious choices. If you are unsure where to start, our personalized divorce roadmap walks through the intake questions a court and attorney will ask.
How the 2021 Joint-Custody Presumption Affects Distance
Arkansas applies a rebuttable presumption that joint custody serves the child's best interest, added by Act 604 of 2021 and codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101. Joint custody means an approximately equal division of time. When parents live far apart, a party can rebut that presumption by showing that equal week-to-week time is not workable, but joint legal custody often survives even when physical time is unequal.
The 2021 amendment changed Arkansas from a state with no custody preference to one that starts every original divorce or paternity case assuming both parents will share time roughly equally. Distance is one of the most common reasons courts accept to rebut the physical-custody half of that presumption. A parent who moves 600 miles away cannot realistically exchange the child every seven days, so the judge may award one parent primary physical custody during the school year while preserving the other parent's summer and holiday time. Critically, the presumption of joint legal custody, the right to participate in major decisions, usually remains intact regardless of distance. Arkansas courts have repeatedly separated legal decision-making from the physical schedule. This distinction matters because an out of state parent can lose day-to-day time yet keep full authority over school enrollment, medical treatment, and religious upbringing. Understanding child custody arrangements and how legal versus physical custody split is essential before you negotiate a distance-based schedule.
What Arkansas Courts Require in a Long-Distance Plan
Arkansas courts expect a long-distance plan to be specific, self-executing, and detailed enough that neither parent needs to negotiate each exchange. Judges want exact dates, a defined transportation method, a virtual-visitation schedule, and a holiday rotation. Vague terms like "reasonable visitation" are disfavored in high-conflict or long-distance cases because they invite repeated litigation.
Under the best-interest analysis in Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101, a court reviewing a distance plan looks for provisions that remove ambiguity. A strong plan states which parent drives or flies the child, who pays each leg of travel, the precise start and end times of summer blocks, and how the schedule handles a child too young to fly unaccompanied. Courts also want a communication clause governing FaceTime custody and phone contact, including days, times, and which parent initiates the call. When both parents present a complete written plan, Arkansas judges frequently adopt it with minimal changes, because a self-executing schedule reduces future contempt motions. The remainder of this section breaks down the core components every Arkansas long-distance plan should contain.
Required Components Checklist
- Physical-custody schedule with exact summer, holiday, and school-break dates
- Transportation clause naming the responsible parent and payment split
- Virtual visitation schedule (video call days, times, and duration)
- Holiday rotation covering Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, and the child's birthday
- Decision-making allocation for education, medical, and religious matters
- Notice provisions for future relocations and schedule changes
- A right-of-first-refusal clause if a parent will be unavailable during their time
Virtual Visitation and FaceTime Custody in Arkansas
Virtual visitation, structured video and phone contact, is a standard feature of Arkansas long-distance plans and is enforceable when written into the decree. Courts routinely order scheduled FaceTime custody sessions, often two to four video calls per week of 15 to 30 minutes each, to preserve the bond between a child and an out of state parent between in-person visits.
Arkansas has no separate virtual-visitation statute, so these provisions draw their force from the general custody authority in Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101 and become binding once incorporated into a court order. Effective remote parenting clauses specify the platform (FaceTime, Zoom, or a co-parenting app), the days and times, the maximum reasonable duration, and a rule that the receiving parent will not monitor or interfere with the call. Well-drafted plans also address practical friction: who supplies the device, what happens during time-zone differences, and how missed calls are made up. Courts take interference with ordered virtual visitation seriously, and a parent who repeatedly blocks video contact can face a contempt finding or a custody modification. For older children, plans sometimes add asynchronous contact such as texting or shared photo albums, but the core scheduled video session remains the anchor. Because Arkansas treats a violated virtual-visitation order like any other custody violation, the specificity of your FaceTime custody language directly determines whether it can be enforced.
Travel Costs and Transportation Logistics
Arkansas courts allocate long-distance travel costs based on which parent moved, the parents' relative incomes, and the reason for the distance. There is no fixed formula, but common outcomes include a 50/50 split of airfare, a rule that the relocating parent bears a larger share, or an offset against child support. Travel expenses are decided under the court's broad equitable authority, not a set statute.
When distance results from one parent's voluntary move, Arkansas judges often shift more of the transportation burden onto that parent, reasoning that the child should not lose contact because of a relocation the other parent did not choose. Where both parents relocated or the move was for legitimate employment, courts more often divide costs equally or in proportion to income. A thorough plan names the airport or exchange point, states whether the child flies as an unaccompanied minor and who pays the airline's fee, and identifies a neutral midpoint for driving exchanges. Because travel spending can be substantial, some Arkansas parents fold a portion of these costs into the child-support calculation. You can estimate the underlying support figure using our child support calculator before negotiating how transportation costs layer on top. Courts also expect a plan to address what happens when weather or a flight cancellation disrupts an exchange, so a make-up-time clause is standard.
Typical Travel-Cost Allocation Models
| Model | How Costs Are Split | Common Scenario |
|---|---|---|
| Equal split | 50/50 of airfare and fees | Both parents relocated or agreed to move |
| Mover pays majority | Relocating parent covers 60-100% | One parent moved voluntarily for non-work reasons |
| Income-proportional | Split by each parent's share of combined income | Significant income gap between parents |
| Support offset | Travel folded into child-support adjustment | Ongoing, predictable annual travel expense |
Relocation: Moving Out of State With a Child
Arkansas relocation law is governed by case precedent, not a single statute, and it distinguishes between a custodial parent's move and a joint-custody arrangement. A primary custodian generally has a presumption in favor of relocation, while in a true joint-custody case the relocating parent must show the move is in the child's best interest under the full best-interest analysis.
The Arkansas Supreme Court's decisions in Hollandsworth v. Knyzewski and later Singletary v. Singletary set the framework applied under the custody authority of Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101. Under Hollandsworth, a parent with primary physical custody enjoys a presumption that relocation is allowed, and the objecting parent must rebut it. But Singletary clarified that this presumption does not apply when parents share joint custody, because the 2021 joint-custody presumption makes shared arrangements the default. In a joint-custody case, the parent who wants to move essentially seeks a change of custody and must prove a material change in circumstances plus that the move benefits the child. This makes early classification, joint versus primary custody, decisive for any out of state parent contemplating a move. Because the legal posture differs so sharply, a parent planning to relocate should document the reasons (a job, family support, better schooling) and provide the other parent written notice well in advance. A workable proposed long distance parenting plan Arkansas judges can adopt, submitted alongside the relocation request, substantially improves the odds of approval.
Modifying an Existing Parenting Plan for Distance
To change an Arkansas custody order because of a move, a parent must show a material change in circumstances since the last order and that the new arrangement serves the child's best interest. A parent relocating a significant distance is one of the most commonly accepted material changes, but the court still independently evaluates the proposed schedule under the best-interest standard.
Arkansas does not let parents rewrite custody informally; any binding change to physical time, decision-making, or the travel-cost split must be approved by the circuit court that issued the original decree. The moving party files a petition to modify and bears the burden of proving both the changed circumstance and the benefit to the child, consistent with Ark. Code Ann. § 9-13-101. Courts scrutinize whether the relocation is made in good faith or to frustrate the other parent's contact. A parent who can show a legitimate reason, a maintained co-parenting relationship, and a detailed replacement schedule with generous summer and virtual contact is far more likely to succeed. If the modification is contested, expect the process to take several months and to include mediation, which many Arkansas circuits require before a contested custody hearing. Consulting a local attorney early is prudent; you can find a divorce attorney experienced in relocation and modification practice. A judge will not approve a modification simply because both parents verbally agree, the change must still pass the best-interest test and be entered as an order.
Grounds, Residency, and How Custody Fits the Divorce
Arkansas requires a legal ground for divorce and a residency period before a decree issues. The plaintiff must have lived in Arkansas 60 days before filing and 3 months before the final decree under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-307. Most no-fault cases proceed on 18-month separation, while general indignities allows a faster fault-based divorce.
Custody, including any long-distance arrangement, is decided within the same divorce case, but it carries its own jurisdictional rule. Under the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act at Ark. Code Ann. § 9-19-201, Arkansas can decide custody only if the state is the child's "home state," generally meaning the child lived there for the six months before the case began. This matters enormously in long-distance situations, because a parent who already moved the child out of state may find that Arkansas no longer has authority to set the parenting plan. The grounds themselves, listed in Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-301, do not affect custody outcomes; Arkansas judges decide time and decision-making on best-interest factors regardless of who is at fault for the marriage ending. Property is divided separately under equitable distribution principles in Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-315, which presumes an equal split of marital property but permits deviation. Aligning the custody, support, and property pieces into one coherent decree is the goal of the final hearing.
Costs of Establishing a Long-Distance Plan
The baseline cost to open an Arkansas divorce with a custody component is the $165 paper filing fee or $185 for e-filing, current statewide as of March 2026. Beyond filing, expect service of process of $25 to $75, and, in contested long-distance cases, attorney fees and mediation costs that can range from a few thousand dollars to well over ten thousand depending on conflict level.
An uncontested plan where both parents agree on the schedule keeps costs near the statutory minimum: filing plus service and copy fees of roughly $200 to $260 total. A contested relocation or modification, by contrast, adds mediation (often $100 to $300 per hour, split between parties), possible custody-evaluation fees, and hourly attorney time. Arkansas circuits frequently order mediation before a contested custody hearing, so budgeting for it is realistic. Travel costs for the plan itself, airfare, unaccompanied-minor fees, and driving expenses, are an ongoing annual expense separate from the litigation and are allocated in the decree as discussed above. Because a poorly drafted plan invites future contempt motions and re-litigation, investing in a specific, self-executing agreement up front is usually cheaper than repeatedly returning to court. Fee amounts are current as of March 2026; verify the exact filing and service costs with your local Circuit Clerk, as county-level charges vary.