When the time has come to divorce, you and your spouse face decisions about the division of the property you jointly own and who, if either, should pay or receive spousal support. If you cannot come to an agreement about the division of your property, your debts and payment of support, then these decisions will be made for you in divorce court.

Understandably, when it comes to ‘who gets what’ in a divorce, emotions can run high. One or both parties might be hurt or angry and that makes it hard to find common ground. Having an attorney can help remove some of the emotion from the divorce equation. We can help to discuss the liquidation and division of assets or how to come to an equitable agreement.

Typically men struggle to be heard in divorce court and the issues of property distribution and spousal support are no different.

Property and Debt Division

Property and debt from a marriage have to be divided during a divorce. There are two kinds of property: real property which is land and any buildings built on it. Fixtures are also part of the building. Fixtures are things that are built into a building that become part of the home and can’t easily be taken out, for example kitchen sinks and toilets. Everything else is personal property; guns, china, artwork, money, jewelry, furniture to name a few. Additionally, there is separate property and marital property. Generally speaking separate property is property that was owned before the marriage, while anything acquired during the marriage is marital property. Marital property gets divided, separate property does not. However, it is crucial that you realize that divorce court judges have a great deal of leeway within guidelines. How well you present your case has a big impact on how the property settlement is reached. Debt is money owed to someone else or some other business or company, like a credit card or home mortgage. This also has to be divided.

Spousal Support

 In Alaska, there are two types of spousal support (called alimony in many other states) they are  rehabilitative and reorientation (restorative) support. The first is intended to support a spouse who needs job training or to finish a degree. The second is given to a spouse, generally for a short period, to ease the transition to a single income.

Alaska does not favor spousal or alimony support. Rather the courts would prefer an uneven distribution of the assets to make up for having to pay support.