Deston Linkous v. Courtney Linkous

── Deston Linkous v. Courtney Linkous ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: April 29, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 261 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION III No. CV-25-144 DESTON LINKOUS Opinion Delivered April 29, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE CONWAY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 15DR-19-142] COURTNEY LINKOUS HONORABLE DAVID H. APPELLEE MCCORMICK, JUDGE AFFIRMED STEPHANIE POTTER BARRETT, Judge Deston Linkous appeals from the Conway County Circuit Court order granting judgment for back child support, awarding attorney’s fees, setting a new child-support obligation, and denying his motion for reconsideration. On appeal, Deston argues the circuit court erred in (1) awarding a judgment for retroactive child support during a period when he and the appellee, Courtney Linkous, were reconciled and living together with their minor children; (2) awarding child support under the traditional provisions of Arkansas Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 10(V)(1) rather than the shared-custody provisions contained in section (V)(2); and (3) awarding Courtney more than the statutory minimum of attorney’s fees. We affirm.  I. Relevant Background Deston and Courtney were married on October 10, 2015, and from that marriage, two minor children were born. The parties separated on June 26, 2019, and were divorced by decree on November 8, 2019. Courtney was awarded primary physical custody of the minor children, subject to Deston’s visitation, but the parties shared joint legal custody. The decree ordered Deston to make biweekly child-support payments of $343. However, the parties agreed to temporarily deviate from the family support chart to give Deston the opportunity to obtain a better financial footing. The court structured his child-supports payments at $150 a month for three months, $350 a month for three months, and then $500 a month for twelve months. The decree stated that at the end of that eighteen-month period, Courtney was to reopen the divorce case and submit an agreed order setting a new child-support amount based on the parties’ incomes at that time. In January 2020, the parties reconciled and moved back in together. Deston and Courtney lived together with their children until May 2023, when they separated again. During this period, Deston stopped making child-support payments, and Courtney never reopened the divorce case to update the child-support obligation as contemplated in the decree. On May 25, 2023, Deston filed a motion to modify custody, visitation, and child- support. In his motion, Deston alleged there had been a material change in circumstances since the entry of the decree that warranted modification. He further asserted that his position within his employment had changed, and he was now able to spend an equal 2 amount of time with his children. Deston also requested the child-support obligations be modified to match the parties’ current financial situations. Shortly after filing his motion, Deston resumed making child-support payments. On June 19, 2023, Courtney filed her reply opposing Deston’s motion along with a countermotion seeking to hold Deston in contempt for failing to make child-support payments during the time the parties had reconciled. On August 9, 2024, a hearing was held on Deston’s motion. At the time of the hearing, Deston was employed with the Arkansas State Police and resided in Conway County in a three-bedroom home with the children during his visitation periods. He testified he had been em