The rest of what we have written about Alaska. Every figure is quoted from Alaska’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Dividing property and money in an Alaska divorce
The money picture for a divorce in Alaska: how property gets divided, what Alaska calls spousal support and how it is decided, whether one spouse can be made to pay the other’s legal fees while the case is running, and — the part nobody publishes — whether Alaska’s own income tax follows the federal rule on alimony.
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Every claim is traced to Alaska’s own statute, court rule or revenue department, quoted where the wording carries the meaning. Where we could not verify something, the page says so instead of filling the space. Information, not legal advice — and tax questions in particular need a professional in your state. Corrections: thecusp.app/corrections.
The short version6 points · tap one to jump to it
- Does Alaska follow the federal alimony rule? — Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018.
- How property is divided — Alaska is an equitable distribution state.
- Spousal support — Alaska calls it spousal support.
- Child support — Alaska uses the income shares model — both parents’ incomes go into the calculation, and the result is apportioned between you.
- Who pays for the lawyers — A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case.
- The thing worth knowing about Alaska
In this subject 8
Does Alaska follow the federal alimony rule?
The short version6 points · tap one to jump to it
- Does Alaska follow the federal alimony rule? — Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018.
- How property is divided — Alaska is an equitable distribution state.
- Spousal support — Alaska calls it spousal support.
- Child support — Alaska uses the income shares model — both parents’ incomes go into the calculation, and the result is apportioned between you.
- Who pays for the lawyers — A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case.
- The thing worth knowing about Alaska
In this subject 8
Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018. Most people assume every state followed. Most did. Not all.
Alaska has no individual income tax at all, so the question of state-level conformity to the TCJA’s alimony rule does not arise; there is no state tax return on which alimony would be reported or deducted.
Source: Alaska Department of Revenue, Tax Division, Personal Income Tax program page: ‘Does Alaska have a personal income tax? The State of Alaska currently does not have an individual income tax, therefore no employee withholding for state income tax is required.’ · source
Nationally: 37 states follow the federal rule, 9 have no income tax, and 4 are decoupled. The full fifty-state table and what each decoupled state does differently.
How property is divided
Alaska is an equitable distribution state. That means the court divides marital property fairly, which is not a synonym for equally. What counts as marital rather than separate property is frequently the whole argument.
the court shall…(4) equitably divide, between the parties, the marital property… regardless of the form in which title to the property is held
Source: Alaska Stat. § 25.24.160(a)(4)
Spousal support
Alaska calls it spousal support. Using the state’s own word matters when you are searching for forms or reading a statute.
There is no guideline calculation. A judge weighs the statutory factors and reaches a number.
This is the norm and it is why alimony is the least predictable figure in a divorce. Two judges can reach different answers on the same facts and both be right. It also means the strength of your evidence about income, earning capacity and the standard of living during the marriage does real work.
the court may order… an award of spousal support to either party… to maintain both parties at the standard of living they had during the marriage
Source: Alaska Stat. § 25.24.160(a)(2)
Child support
Alaska uses the income shares model — both parents’ incomes go into the calculation, and the result is apportioned between you.
Whichever model applies, this is the most predictable number in your case — there is a formula and a presumption that its output is correct. Deviating from it takes written findings. Run it early; it is free, and it anchors everything else.
Guideline: Alaska R. Civ. P. 90.3 (child support guidelines)
Who pays for the lawyers
Fee-shifting provision: Alaska Stat. § 25.24.140(a)(1)
During the pendency of the action, the court may provide for… (1) attorney fees and costs of the action
A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case. By then it is over. An interim award is what stops a wealthier spouse winning by attrition.
If you are the lower earner, this is the single most actionable thing on this page. Ask at the first meeting, in these words: “Can we move for an interim award of attorney fees now?” Do not let “we will deal with fees at the end” pass unexamined.
Separately, if custody is contested you may be ordered to pay for a guardian ad litem or a custody evaluator, and the court decides how to split that. What that costs in Alaska, and who bears it.
The thing worth knowing about Alaska
Alaska is the only state that lets divorcing spouses opt into community-property treatment by written agreement even though the state’s default marital-property regime is equitable distribution (the Alaska Community Property Act, Alaska Stat. § 34.77).