Alaska Court System: Alaska Supreme Court Opinion No.7817, S-19197 Property division & child support in divorce & custody

The Alaska Supreme Court recently decided an appeal about dividing property and providing child support in a divorce and custody case. The husband challenged several aspects of the trial court's division of the couple's property. The Alaska Supreme Court concluded the superior court's decisions about what property was marital and how to divide that property was largely supported by the record. However, the court concluded that the trial court failed to sufficiently explain why it divided a particular debt unequally in a way that widened the gap between the parties' awards.

Regarding child support, the husband argued that he should not be required to pay past child support for the parties' disabled adult daughter because the daughter lived in an assisted care facility, so neither parent had physical custody of her. The Alaska Supreme Court reasoned that a parent does not necessarily give up physical custody by sending a child to an assisted care facility if the parent is still playing a custodial role. Here, the wife visited the daughter frequently, facilitated her care, and covered her living expenses, whereas the husband did not participate meaningfully in the daughter's care.

The husband also implied the daughter, now an adult, was capable of caring for herself, so future child support was unwarranted. However, the Alaska Supreme Court concluded there was adequate evidence in the record to support the trial court's decision that that the daughter was not able to care for herself. Therefore, it was proper for the trial court to conclude that the wife had primary physical custody of the daughter and the husband owed past and future child support.