Marriage – Postnuptial Agreements – Arkansas

Title 9, Subtitle 2, Chapter 11, Subchapter 5, 9-11-503. Rights generally.

(a) A married person may bargain, sell, assign, and transfer his or her separate personal property, carry on any trade or business, and perform any labor or services on his or her sole and separate account.

(b) The earnings of any married person from the trade, business, labor, or services shall be his or her sole and separate property and may be used or invested in the person’s own name.

(c) He or she may sue alone or be sued in the courts of this state on account of the property, business, or services.

9-11-301. Execution of contract.

All marriage contracts whereby any estate, real or personal, is intended to be secured or conveyed to any person, or whereby the estate may be affected in law or equity, shall be in writing acknowledged by each of the contracting parties or proved by one (1) or more subscribing witnesses.

9-11-302. Acknowledgment or proof.

Marriage contracts shall be acknowledged or proven before a court of record, before some judge or clerk of a court of record, or before any former judge of a court of record who served at least four (4) years, of the state in which the contract is made and executed, which acknowledgment or proof shall be taken and certified in the same manner as deeds of conveyance for lands are or shall be required by law to be acknowledged or proven.

9-11-303. Recordation — Effect.

(a) Every marriage contract whereby any real estate is conveyed or secured shall be recorded with the certificate of proof or acknowledgment in the office of the clerk and recorder of every county in which any estate intended to be affected or conveyed shall be situated.

(b) When a marriage contract is deposited with the recorder of any county for record, it shall be deemed full notice to all persons of the contents thereof, as far as relates to real estate affected thereby in the county where it is deposited.

9-11-304. Effect of unrecorded contract.

No marriage contract shall be valid or affect property, except between the parties thereto and those who have actual notice thereof, until it shall be deposited for record with the clerk and recorder of the county where the real estate is situated.

9-11-305. Contract or copy as evidence — Conclusiveness.

(a) Marriage contracts duly proved or acknowledged, certified, or recorded shall be received as evidence in any court of record of this state, without further proof of their execution.

(b) When it shall appear to a court that any marriage contract duly acknowledged or proved and recorded is lost or is not in the power of the party wishing to use it, a copy duly certified under the hand and seal of the clerk and recorder may be received in evidence.

(c) Neither the certificate of acknowledgment nor probate of any marriage contract, nor the record or transcript thereof, shall be conclusive, but may be rebutted.

Disclaimer: This law summary is not legal advice. If you are not an attorney, you should consult an attorney about serious legal matters.