SB311

Senate Bill 311 amends Arkansas law regarding child support, specifically focusing on the limitations periods for initial orders and the scope of retroactive support. The bill establishes that retroactive child support for an initial order is generally limited to three years prior to the filing of a petition, or from the birth of the child if they are under three years old. It introduces a specific exception for cases where a payor parent was not served with the initial pleading and was not intentionally evading service, setting the effective date to no earlier than three years before the date of service. The bill clarifies procedures for filing petitions for support and updates references to the Office of Child Support Enforcement's service criteria. It also retains provisions excluding incarceration from being classified as voluntary unemployment for support calculations and outlines processes for child support abatement during extended visitation. These changes aim to standardize the timeline for retroactivity while providing protections for parents who were not properly served with initial legal documents.