Custody in Alaska.

Decisions against where the child lives

Alaska separates the two but never defines them in a single definitions section. Legal custody is the authority to make major decisions for the child; physical custody is where the child actually lives and who is caring for the child day to day. Each can be sole or joint, and the four combinations are named expressly in AS 25.24.150(g). AS 25.20.090 sets out a second, separate list of factors the court must consider specifically when deciding whether to award shared (physical) custody, so the shared-time question gets its own analysis on top of the general best-interests analysis.

What the judge must weigh

1. The physical, emotional, mental, religious, and social needs of the child
2. The capability and desire of each parent to meet those needs
3. The child's preference, if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to form a preference
4. The love and affection existing between the child and each parent
5. The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity
6. The willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the other parent and the child — except that the court may not weigh this factor against a parent who shows the other parent sexually assaulted or committed domestic violence against the parent or a child and that continued contact would endanger the health or safety of the parent or child
7. Any evidence of domestic violence, child abuse, or child neglect in the proposed custodial household, or a history of violence between the parents
8. Evidence that substance abuse by either parent or other members of the household directly affects the emotional or physical well-being of the child
9. Other factors the court considers pertinent

What the child wants

Yes, but there is no magic age. AS 25.24.150(c)(3) requires the court to consider "the child's preference if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to form a preference," and AS 25.20.090(1) repeats that for shared-custody decisions. It is one factor among nine, not a decision the child makes.

Where there has been violence or abuse

AS 25.24.150(g)-(k). There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent with a history of perpetrating domestic violence against the other parent, a child, or a domestic living partner "may not be awarded sole legal custody, sole physical custody, joint legal custody, or joint physical custody of a child." Under (h), a parent has such a history if the court finds one incident causing serious physical injury, or more than one incident of domestic violence. The presumption is overcome only by a preponderance of evidence that the parent completed a batterers' intervention program where reasonably available, does not engage in substance abuse, and that the child's best interests require that parent as a custodial parent for specific reasons. Under (j), a parent with that history gets supervised visitation only, conditioned on completing a batterers' intervention program and a parenting education program. Under (i), if both parents have such a history, the court awards sole legal and physical custody to the parent less likely to continue the violence (with treatment required) or, if necessary, to a suitable third person. Under (k), the fact that an abused parent suffers the effects of the abuse is not a reason to deny that parent custody unless the effects are so severe the parent cannot safely parent.

The parenting plan

The custody statutes do not by their own terms require a separately filed written parenting plan. In practice the Alaska Court System builds the case around one: its Family Law Self-Help Center describes a custody case as a case "filed by unmarried parents to figure out a parenting plan that includes legal custody, physical custody and child support," and points parents to its parenting-plan guidance and forms (https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/family/custody.htm). We could not confirm the number or exact title of the parenting-plan form, so ask the clerk or the Family Law Self-Help Center for the current one.

Mediation

Not mandatory. Under AS 25.24.060(a), either party may move for mediation within 30 days after the complaint or cross-complaint is filed, and the judge may order it; the court may also order mediation on its own at any time if it believes mediation may produce a better settlement. Domestic violence is a hard stop: under AS 25.24.060(f) the court may not order or refer parties to mediation if a protective order under AS 18.66.100–18.66.180 is in effect, and may not order mediation if a party objects on the ground that domestic violence has occurred unless specific statutory conditions are met — and then only if the victim agrees.

If the court appoints someone to look into it

AS 25.24.310. The court, on a party's motion or its own, may appoint an attorney or the Office of Public Advocacy to represent a minor, and under subsection (c) may appoint an attorney, another person, or the Office of Public Advocacy to serve as guardian ad litem for the child. The court must require a guardian ad litem when representing the child's best interests (as distinct from the child's preferences) would serve the child's welfare. On cost: subsection (b) provides that where custody, support, or visitation is at issue, the order for costs and fees "shall be made against either or both parents," except that the state bears the cost for an indigent party; the court is also directed to try to avoid loading the cost onto one party alone, including by ordering it paid from the sale of joint or individual property before the property division.

Changing the order

AS 25.20.110(a): custody or visitation may be modified if the court determines that a change in circumstances requires modification and the modification is in the child's best interests. There is no statutory waiting period before you can file. Under (c), a finding that a crime involving domestic violence has occurred since the last custody or visitation determination is itself a finding of changed circumstances. Under (b), the court must also consider each parent's past compliance with child support orders, but only where the parent knew the amount owed and had or could have obtained the funds.

If you were never married

AS 25.20.060(a) lets either parent petition the superior court for custody, using the same best-interests factors as a divorce case, and AS 25.20.060(b) states expressly that neither parent is entitled to a preference "regardless of the question of the child's legitimacy." Parentage still has to exist in law first: AS 25.20.050 sets out how a child born outside marriage is legitimated — the parents' later marriage, a signed acknowledgment of paternity under AS 18.50.165, or a court adjudication. So an unmarried father generally needs an acknowledgment on file or a paternity order before a custody order can run in his favor.