Alaska Supreme Court: parent who stays active guardian keeps custody when disabled adult child lives in assisted care

A parent who places a disabled adult child in an assisted living facility does not automatically forfeit primary physical custody, the Alaska Supreme Court held Friday, where evidence shows the parent still has a custodial role. The court also rejected a judicial-bias claim and affirmed that a $100,000 inheritance counted as marital property.

The case involved Melinda Duckett and Jonathan Cline, who had four children together. Their intellectually disabled adult daughter lives in an assisted living facility. Duckett visited her at least once a week and served as her court-appointed guardian and conservator. Cline told the court he had "probably seen her physically four or five times in the last two years."

Duckett documented $1,280 per month in expenses for her daughter's care. The superior court found Cline's adjusted annual income to be $109,249, split costs evenly, and ordered him to pay $640 per month. The Supreme Court affirmed that calculation. It also affirmed a 55-to-45 division of the marital estate in Duckett's favor.

The court did send one issue back to the superior court: further findings on how capital gains taxes from the sale of marital property should be allocated, which could affect each party's effective share of the estate.