Alaska Court System Self-Help

• The parents financial obligation to support their children.
• Federal and state laws require that child support be ordered whenever the court makes a custody order.

- Child support is not optional.
- Child support cannot be waived.
- Children are entitled to support.

• It will depend on your parenting plan.
• For child support purposes, the parenting schedule will be described with one of the following words so that both you and the court know which formula to apply:
  • Primary
  • Shared
  • Divided
  • Hybrid
• The custodial parent may request child support from the date the parents separated (even if that was long ago).
• Your child support order will have the date you started owing child support, and when payments are due.
• Read about the different calculations and court forms for different schedules.

Child support is calculated based on the formula in Civil Rule 90.3.

• Variation from the rule is allowed only in very rare circumstances.
• Even if both parents agree to change child support, the court may not approve or accept the agreement.

Civil Rule 90.3 discusses the different calculations to figure out the child support amount. The specific calculation depends on your parenting plan. Civil Rule 90.3 discusses how to calculate for primary custody, shared custody, divided custody, and hybrid custody.

Parents in cases involving child custody (divorce and custody cases) must fill out the Child Support Guidelines Affidavit DR-305. Fill out the one column for yourself. You may also fill out the column for the other parent if you know the information.

Please see How to Fill out the Child Support Guidelines Affidavit.

To figure out the child support for a primary custody arrangement, do the following calculation:

• Gross income - Deductions = Adjusted Income (AI)
• AI x Percentage (see below) = Child Support
  • 1 kid: 20%
  • 2 kids: 27%
  • 3 kids: 33%
  • More kids: 3% for each

If the calculation results in a support amount below $50.00 per month, the support amount will be $50.00 a month. The lowest amount of child support that someone can owe is $50.00.

If your adjusted annual income is over $138,000, you may be eligible to use the high income cap. Rule 90.3 says that the portion of an adjusted annual income over $138,000 will not be used in calculating the child support amount, unless the other parent presents evidence showing the higher income should be used in the calculation. If the cap is used, the adjusted annual income will be $138,000 for calculating child support.

To figure out the child support for a shared custody arrangement, fill out the Shared Custody Child Support Calculation, DR-306.

To figure out the child support for a divided custody arrangement, fill out the Divided Custody Child Support Calculation, DR-307.

To figure out the child support for a hybrid custody arrangement, fill out the Hybrid Custody Child Support Calculation, DR-308.

• For most people, the most difficult part of this rule is figuring out their income or the income of the other party. You must claim income and deductions according to the rule
  • income for tax purposes DOES NOT EQUAL income for child support purposes
  • deductions for tax purposes DO NOT EQUAL deductions for child support purposes
• It can also be hard to pull together the required paperwork (W-2s, tax returns, pay stubs) to submit to the court.

• Generally, ANY AND ALL income or payments, including
  • wages, disability, SSDI or unemployment
  • employer in-kind benefits such as meals, housing or transportation
  • non-taxable benefits such as military allowances for quarters, rations, COLA and specialty pay
• But not
  • income from need based public benefit programs like ATAP, TANF or SSI
  • one-time, lump sum payments
• See the detailed list in the Civil Rule 90.3 Commentary.

• Federal taxes actually OWED (not withheld)
• State or local income taxes if you live outside of Alaska
• State unemployment insurance (SUI)
• Social Security & Medicare - often paychecks show these together as "FICA"
• Mandatory retirement contributions
• Voluntary retirement contributions that can be no more than 7.5% of total income when combined with mandatory retirement contributions (mandatory contribution + voluntary contribution must be 7.5% or less than total income)
• Union dues
• Childcare for children so you can work
• Child support ordered for prior children of a different relationship
• Cost of supporting older children living with you, including children that live with you in a shared custody arrangement
• Out-of-pocket cost of health insurance premiums including dental and vision coverage, paid by the parent and for the parent’s own coverage to a maximum of 10% of the parent’s total income. (Note: after the child support amount is calculated, the child support order will address how to divide the cost of the children’s health insurance coverage if there is health insurance available and purchased).
• Life insurance premiums if the beneficiary of the policy is the other parent, or children you and the other parent have together.

Rule 90.3 and the commentary lists other allowable deductions. Deductions allowed by Civil Rule 90.3 are not the same as those allowed for federal taxes.

The CSED Child Support Calculator may be able to help you calculate deductions if you know your gross wages.

New in 2023: If your total income is $30,000 or less, follow these steps to figure out your deductions.

• Add up the deductions listed in the child support rule above (taxes owed, unemployment insurance, etc.).
• If the total is more than $7,500, deduct that amount from your total income.
• If the total is $7,500 or less, deduct $7,500 from your total income.

When figuring out your annual adjusted income (gross income – deductions), you may deduct for:

• mandatory contributions to a retirement or pension plan, and
• voluntary contributions to a retirement or pension plan or account in which the earnings are tax-free or tax-deferred.
  • But you can only deduct voluntary contributions if the combined amount of mandatory + voluntary contributions is 7.5% or less of total income.

For example:

So for this example when filling out the Child Support Guidelines Affidavit DR-305 Deductions in section B, next to:

• "Mandatory retirement contributions" you would write $2,400.
• "Voluntary retirement contributions if plan earnings are tax-free or tax-deferred, up to 7.5% of total income when combined with mandatory contributions," you would write $600.

First, figure out how much time the older children live with you. Is it a primary custody arrangement or a shared custody arrangement? Once you figure out the custody arrangement, review the Prior Child Deduction chart to figure out how much to deduct.

If primary custody, figure out how much child support you would pay for the children if you were paying support. You can use the CSED calculator by inputting your annual gross income. It will provide a child support amount. Take that amount and write it into the Child Support Guidelines Affidavit, DR-305 as a deduction in the appropriate spot "In-kind support for prior children of a different relationship calculated under 90.3(a)(1)(D)."

If shared custody, figure out the deduction by reviewing the Prior Child Deduction chart which provides the calculation. Take that amount and write it into the Child Support Guidelines Affidavit, DR-305 as a deduction in the appropriate spot "In-kind support for prior children of a different relationship calculated under 90.3(a)(1)(D)."

Be aware that the total amount allowed as a deduction is capped by the higher amount of either:

• the child support ordered for the older children, or
• the calculation for a primary custody arrangement (Civil Rule 90.3(a)(2) calculation).

For example of a capped deduction,

Mother has 40% shared custody of 2 prior children. Mother’s child support order for these 2 prior children is $6,000 per year. Mother’s current adjusted annual income is $20,000 per year. Based on her current adjusted annual income, Mother’s primary support amount for the 2 prior children if they were her only children would be $5,400 per year ($20,000 x 27% = $5,400) (under Civil Rule 90.3(a)(2) calculation).

Math:

  90.3(a)(2) primary    $5,400
× 90.3(b) custody percent   40%
= 90.3(a)(1)(D) in-kind  $2,160
+ 90.3(a)(1)(C) actual    $6,000
= total allowed deduction $8,160 $6,000

$8,160 is more than what Mother is allowed to deduct because $8,160 is more than the (a)(2) primary amount of $5,400 and more than the (a)(1)(C) ordered amount of $6,000. Mother is limited to the higher of the (a)(2) amount or (a)(1)(C) amount. In this example, the higher amount is $6,000, so $6,000 is Mother’s total allowed deduction. Mother can deduct $6,000 for prior child support and $0 for in-kind prior child support.

Parents can deduct their out-of-pocket cost of their own health insurance premiums, including medical, dental and vision coverage, with the following limits:

• the parent pays for the coverage;
• the deduction may not include the cost to cover other members of the household or family such as their spouse or children. If the parent’s insurance also covers other family members, and evidence is not available about the specific cost of insuring only the parent, the deductible cost for the parent may be determined by dividing the total cost of coverage by the number of all covered family members.
• the deduction is capped at 10% of the parent’s total income.

For example, for a parent with health insurance that they pay the premiums for their own insurance, the deduction is calculated as:

You can deduct life insurance premiums if the beneficiary of the policy is the other parent, or children you and the other parent have together. If you pay more than $1200 in premiums, you can only deduct $1200. If you have other beneficiaries (besides the other parent or children you have together), you can only deduct the part of the premium that covers the other parent or your children.

For example: Your premium is $150 each month. The beneficiaries are 2 children you have with the other parent and 1 child you have with someone else. That means 2/3 of the premium can be deducted (2 of the 3 people covered are the other parent or your children). $150 / 3 is $50, so it costs $50 for each person. 2 x $50 is $100. It costs $100 for the two children you have with the other parent in this case. You can deduct $100 each month, or $1200 each year.

• Probably not.
• The court may order child support according to your potential income, based on your work and earnings history.
• This is called imputing income.
• The court may impute income if you are voluntarily and unreasonably unemployed or underemployed.
• If you want the court to impute income the other parent, you can file a Motion to Impute. Read motion practice.

• Income includes the gross receipts minus the ordinary and necessary expenses required to produce the income.
• However depreciation rules for child support are different than for taxes.
• See the Commentary to Civil Rule 90.3 and an attorney for more information.

• Under certain circumstances, Rule 90.3 allows for income averaging.
• Prepare an Income Affidavit, SHC-1210 Word | PDF for each year, as well as a proposed averaged DR-305 with the completed calculation.
• An attorney can help you determine whether this is appropriate in your situation and how best to make your argument.

The child support order will include information about the children’s health insurance coverage and the cost to cover just the children. If the children are able to receive free medical services through the Indian Health Service or the military, the order will note it. If health insurance is available to one or both parents for free or at a reasonable cost, the child support order will state which parent must get health insurance. In general, the court considers the cost of health insurance to be reasonable if it is 5% or less than the adjusted annual income of the parent who may be required to purchase the insurance. Usually the order will split the cost of health insurance between the parents, although the court may order unequal payments if there is a good reason.

An obligor's child support obligation will be decreased by the amount of the obligee's portion of health insurance payments ordered by the court and actually paid by the obligor. A child support award will be increased by the obligor's portion of health insurance if the obligee is ordered to, and actually does obtain and pay for insurance. So, you need to figure out how much it costs to insure just the children included in the child support order.

If the cost of covering the parent alone is the same as the cost of covering the parent and children, then there is no additional cost to the parent for adding the children; no portion of the cost of coverage may be allocated to the children. If dependent coverage can be added for a single cost, rather than per child, and the children’s coverage covers other children in addition to the children subject to the order, the cost to cover the children will be divided equally among all of the children covered by the insurance.

See the child health insurance diagram to figure out the cost to insure just the children.

When the court issues a parenting plan or a custody and visitation order, it must issue a child support order based on Civil Rule 90.3. The parents cannot agree to waive child support or to have a specific amount that is lower than the calculated amount. The parents can agree on what is reasonable income to use for a parent for the calculation which should be based on their earnings and current and past employment history. There may be flexibility on the start date for the child support order.

If the parents decide not to follow the child support order, the debt will accrue based on the ordered amount. If one parent decides at a later date to enforce the child support order, the court is likely to find the obligor parent owes the full back support amount. So it is always a good idea to save the full monthly child support amount so that if the other parent enforces the order, you will have enough to pay him or her. Remember, child support is required to financially support your children.

• Completed Child Support Affidavit DR-305
• 3 most recent pay stubs, if you receive paystubs
• Most recent tax return, including
  1. your W-2s,
  2. any 1099s,
  3. all schedules and attachments, and
  4. documents proving all deductions (for example, , a statement from your retirement account showing you voluntarily deposit money into it each year, or a copy of your child support order for an older child that is not a part of this case.)

It depends.

• The court could impute income to the other parent up to $138,000 (the cap under the Rule).
• The court could impute income to the other parent based on the person's work history as described by the other side or Department of Labor records.
• Other as the court decides.

• Their main job is to
  • Collect child support
  • Enforce child support orders
• They can also
  • Establish a new child support order, if the court has not issued one
  • Review (by request, not more than once every 3 years).

CSED is not automatically involved in your case unless the parent who receives child support is getting a public benefit. Usually, one party must apply for services.

Visit CSED’s client portal home page to learn about CSED services and file an application.

Get information about signing up for CSED services.

• Client (Obligee – person who owes child support) Portal Guide .
• Client (Obligor – person who gets child support from the other parent) Portal Guide .

Or you can file the Application for Services of Child Support Enforcement Division, DR-315 in your case.

Both the court and the CSED have the authority to issue child support orders. However, the child support orders come about in different ways. The court must issue a child support order when it decides the custody and visitation arrangement for a child in a case involving divorce, dissolution, or custody between unmarried parents. CSED issues an order when one parent requests child support because the parents have split up and the parent taking care of the children wants the other parent to pay support for the child. Sometimes a parent will have a CSED support order and then file a custody case in court later. If the court issues a child support order that is different from the CSED order, the court’s child support order takes priority and replaces the CSED order.

There must be a change in circumstance:

• a 15% change in the amount of child support ordered (this means that when you calculate support based on the non-custodial parents' current income now, it is 15% more or less than the current support order), or
• change in parenting plan that affects which calculation is used to figure out the child support (for example, the parenting plan changes so a primary custody calculation applies now instead of a shared custody calculation).

Where you file depends on who issued the child support order you want to modify.

• The court can modify a child support order that the court issued previously.
• CSED can modify a child support order that CSED issued previously.

• Once a year you can ask the other parent in writing to provide documents such as tax returns and pay stubs showing their income for the prior calendar year.
• Within 30 days of the written request, the other parent must provide the documents to you.
• You must also provide the other parent with documentation of your annual income for the same period that you are asking for their income information.
• Do NOT file the written request in court. It is just between the parties.
• You can only request the other parent's income information once a year. However, within a court case you can request this information through the discovery process.

The court often orders the person who owes child support to apply for their own PFD. You can ask the PFD Office if someone has applied by calling:

Anchorage: (907) 269-0370
Fairbanks: (907) 451-2821
Juneau: (907) 465-2326
Toll-free: (800) 733-8813

Through court, file a Motion to Modify.

Through CSED, file a Request for Modification .

No, the Attorney General’s office who represents CSED does not want you to send it copies of modification papers.

If both parents agree to reduce the amount of back owed child support (called arrears) and neither was receiving public assistance from the State of Alaska, they can file a written agreement.

Agreement & Order for Child Support Arrears Settlement, SHC-1245 Word | PDF

If either parent was receiving public assistance and the obligor parent was supposed to be paying child support to the state of Alaska, then CSED must agree to reduce any back owed child support to the State before the parents can agree to a reduction between them. Contact CSED to request a reduction in the amount of arrears owed to the State.

The U.S. Department of State's Office of Children's Issues has a web page addressing international child support enforcement .

• You can read the laws , rules and regulations online, at your local law library, or at your local legislative information office .
• Child Support Enforcement Division FAQs .
• Classes.
• Find a lawyer.
• The Family Law HelpLine.