Either you or your spouse may file for divorce in Alaska at any time as long as the filing spouse is a resident of the state. There is only one no-fault ground, divorce based on irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, upon which to get a divorce in Alaska. Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage means that there is no reasonable hope that the marriage can continue.
Also, a spouse may file for a fault based divorce in Alaska. It may be based on one of the following grounds:
The legal divorce process begins when one spouse files a "Petition for Dissolution of Marriage" in a county where either spouse resides. The factors the court must consider when dividing the marital property are as follows:
Separate property is not considered marital property and it is retained by the owner. The following types of property are considered separate property:
It is important to collect all the information you can about all your property, including when you purchased it, approximately how much it is worth, and details such as account numbers, serial numbers and so forth. Collecting this information before you see an Alaska divorce lawyer can save you a lot of time and money. In Alaska, a court can order alimony or support to either spouse. Support is a monthly payment of money made from one spouse to the other. The court may order spousal support to be paid before the divorce is final, after the divorce or both. The court usually orders spousal support for a specific purpose and for a limited amount of time.
In deciding whether to award alimony, a court generally considers the following factors:
There are two kinds of support: "rehabilitation support" and "reorientation support." Rehabilitation support is the money that pays for job training or school. You can get rehabilitation support for the reasonable time it takes to finish a degree program. This is usually for up to four years. Reorientation support is the money that helps you get used to living on less money than when you were married. This money is paid for a short period, usually a year or less, and usually when the division of marital property does not meet one spouse's needs. Where one parent is awarded primary physical child custody, a child support award is calculated as an amount equal to the adjusted annual income of the non-custodial parent multiplied by a specified percentage depending on the number of children.
Types of custody in Alaska:
The court is guided by the "best interests of the child" in determining the custody of a minor. Other factors that a court looks at in making the custody determination are:
At some point before your child turns 18, you may find that you need to modify the custody ordered in the final decree, to do this, you must file a motion. You can modify child custody only if there has been a change of circumstances. For custody, a change in circumstances means something has happened so that the old parenting plan is no longer in the child's best interests.
The court will normally set visitation rights if the parents cannot voluntarily agree upon satisfactory arrangements. An important factor to the court in most custody cases is which parent will be the most likely to see to it that the non-custodial parent stays an important part of the child's life.
Generally the parent that does not have custody will be asked to contribute to the support of the minor child. The court looks at the needs of the child and the ability of the supporting parent to pay. Alaska has child support guidelines that provide an amount of child support that is presumed correct. The court may deviate from the guidelines under certain circumstances. The award may be increased or decreased if a material change occurs in the circumstances of either parent or the child.
At some point before your child turns 18, you may find that you need to modify the support ordered in the final decree and judgment. To do this, you must file a motion. You can modify child support only if there has been a change of circumstances.
For child support, a change in circumstances means either:
Residency Requirements and Grounds for Divorce
Dividing the Property
Alimony
Child Custody and Visitation
Child Support
Related Web Links:
- Alaska Courts
- Alaska Child Support Calculator
- Alaska Child Support Division
- Alaska State Profile
- Alaska Family Law Forms
- Alaska Marital and Domestic Relations
- Family Law: Selecting a Good Lawyer
- Divorce - General message board for more help
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