Alaska State Divorce Statutes

Jurisdiction

In Alaska, the Superior Court has jurisdiction over divorce cases and is divided into four judicial districts:

Who May File According to the Alaska State Divorce Statutes

If you are the petitioner, you must be a legal resident of Alaska at the time of filing. Military members stationed in Alaska for 30 or more days are also considered residents for this purpose.

Grounds for Divorce

According to the Alaska state divorce statutes, you must have proper grounds to file for divorce. These are either agreed upon in advance or they are charges that the plaintiff in the case seeks to prove.

No-Fault Grounds

No-Fault is essentially any incompatibility leading to the breakdown of the marriage. An example of this might be when one spouse has found true religion while the other has no desire to find it. While neither party has consciously injured or insulted the other, there is no question that the difficulty in relating to each other caused by this new incompatibility can easily lead the couple to divorce.

Fault Grounds

Fault is not a matter of incompatibility. Here, one spouse has either injured or neglected the other in some grievous way or there is some severe behavioral issue.

• Failure to consummate the marriage
• Adultery
• A felony conviction
• Willful desertion
• Cruel and inhuman treatment
• Habitual gross drunkenness
• Incurable mental illness
• Criminal drug addiction

Depending on the circumstances, any one of these may have a serious effect on issues such as spousal support, property and asset distribution, child custody, visitation and child support.

Dividing Up Assets and Property

Alaska is an equitable distribution state, with all marital property being distributed to the parties in an equitable fashion. Essentially, the property will be divided in a way that the court deems to be fair, not necessarily equal. Prior to this, the parties are encouraged to reach a settlement on property and debt issues. Only if that fails will the court issue a property award. The factors considered by the court include:

• Length of the marriage
• Age and health of the parties
• Earning capacity of the parties
• Financial condition of the parties
• Conduct of the parties
• The awarding of the family home, or the right to live in it for a reasonable period of time, to the party who has primary physical custody of the minor children
• Circumstances and necessities of each party
• Time and manner of acquisition of the property in question
• The income-producing capacity of the property and its value at the time of the property division

Name Restoration or Change

Both parties have the right to change their name to a prior name when filing for divorce. However, if a party wants to change their name to something other than a prior name, the court will set a date for a hearing that will take place at least 40 days after filing of the action. During this time, a notice of the application for a change of name and the date of the hearing will be published once each week in a general circulation newspaper within the judicial district.

Support Issues

In certain cases child support and even spousal support can be ordered by the court.

Spousal Support

Not every divorce includes spousal support; this is something that is decided on a case-by-case basis. It may also be something that both parties agree to. However, if the court deems it necessary to issue such an order, the factors considered are essentially the same as with the property and debt division except that many other factors the court deems relevant are now taken into account.

Child Support and Related Issues

As with all other areas of a divorce, if the two parties cannot agree on equitable child support and custody, then the court will make orders concerning these issues and will do so in the best interests of the child. Alaska uses a Percentage of Income method that takes a percentage of the non-custodial parent's income based upon the number of children that need to be supported. For more specific information, visit our Alaska Child Support page.

Child Custody

Since the courts are charged with doing everything they can to help lessen the trauma experienced by children of divorce, if the parents fail to agree on issues involving the children, the court will exercise its best judgment and establish a custody order that is in the best interests of the child. To do this, the court will consider the following:

• The various needs of the child
• The ability and desire of each parent to meet these needs
• The child's preference
• The love and affection between each parent and the child
• The stability and desirability of maintaining the child's current living arrangement
• Each parent's willingness and ability to encourage a close and continuing relationship between the other parent and the child.
• Evidence of domestic violence, child abuse or neglect
• A history of violence between the parents
• Substance abuse within the household
• Other relevant factors

In Closing

These are some of the issues that you and your spouse will have to deal with as you and your attorney navigate your way through Alaska's divorce system. If it is just the two of you, that should be easy enough, but if there are kids involved, look out for their best interests throughout. The court certainly will!