Divorce in Alaska

  • Residency Requirements and Grounds for Divorce

  • Dividing the Property

  • Alimony

  • Child Custody and Visitation

  • Child Support

    Residency Requirements and Grounds for Divorce

    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:

    • Failure to consummate the marriage
    • Adultery
    • Conviction of a felony
    • Willful desertion for a period of one year
    • Cruel and inhuman treatment
    • Habitual drunkenness
    • Incurable mental illness when the spouse has been confined to an institution for a period of at least 18 months
    • Drug abuse
    • Personal indignities
    • Incompatibility of temperament

    The legal divorce process begins when one spouse files a "Petition for Dissolution of Marriage" in a county where either spouse resides.

    Dividing the Property

    In Alaska, assets and debts acquired during your marriage, called "marital property," must be divided in a fair and equitable way. "Marital property" is all jointly owned property, other then separate property, acquired by either or both of the spouses during the marriage. For a marriage of some length, "fair and equitable" often means 50-50. However, after considering the factors listed below, the court may decide that it is "fair and equitable" to give one party more or less than 50%. For short term marriages, the court may find it most appropriate to simply put the people back into the economic position they had before the marriage.

    The factors the court must consider when dividing the marital property are as follows:

    • Length of the marriage and station in life of the parties during the marriage
    • Age and health of the spouses
    • Earning capacity of the spouses, including their educational backgrounds, training, employment skills, work experiences, length of absence from the job market and custodial responsibilities for children during the marriage
    • Financial condition of the spouses
    • Conduct of the parties
    • Desirability of awarding the family home, or the right to live in it for a reasonable period of time, to the parent who has primary physical custody of children
    • Circumstances and necessities of each spouse
    • Time and manner of acquisition of the property in question
    • Income-producing capacity of the property and the value of the property at the time of division

    Separate property is not considered marital property and it is retained by the owner. The following types of property are considered separate property:

    • Assets you had before you married may be considered non-marital or "separate property" if you kept that property separated from property acquired during the marriage
    • The income produced by a separate property investment may also be non-marital property, as long as it hasn't been "commingled" - mixed together with marital property
    • Property you inherit from your family during your marriage will generally be considered your own separate property if it was willed exclusively to you and you did not commingle it with marital property during the marriage

    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.

    Alimony

    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:

    • How long you were married
    • Your age and health
    • How much money you can make
    • How long you went to school
    • Your work skills
    • How much work experience you have
    • If you worked during the marriage
    • If you took care of the kids
    • If you unreasonably used up marital money
    • How the property and debt is divided

    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.

    Child Custody and Visitation

    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:

    • Shared physical custody - child resides with parent at least 30% but not more than 70% of the year
    • Primary physical custody - child resides with other parent less than 30% of the year
    • Divided custody - one parent has primary physical custody of one or more child and the other parent has primary custody of one or more child and the parents do not share physical custody of any of their children
    • Hybrid custody - at least one parent has primary physical custody of one or more child, and the parents have shared physical custody of at least one child

    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:

    • Age of the parent and child
    • Physical and mental condition of the parent and child
    • Relationship existing between each parent and each child
    • Needs of the child
    • Role played by each parent in the upbringing and caring for the child
    • The home where the child will live
    • Child's wishes if child is of sufficient age, intelligence and maturity to make that decision

    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.

    Child Support

    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:

    • A 15% change in income
    • A change in the parenting plan that affects the child support formula
    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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