Child Support

Learn about Alaska's Child Support Guidelines

Child support is one of the few areas of family law that requires an attorney to consistently deal with technical issues. In Alaska, this demands an attorney's close knowledge of the state's child support guidelines. It is important to know, for example, that Alaska is a percentage-of-income and not an income-shares state. Contact Kenneth Kirk & Associates, in Anchorage, Alaska, to learn more.

Attorney Kenneth Kirk is widely recognized as a leading child support lawyer. He will advise you about all the nuances in Alaska's child support laws, modifications, and contempt orders. For one significant difference is that, under Alaska law, only the non-custodial parent's income, and not both parents' income, is used to calculate child support in most cases.

The following briefly describes how courts determine child support in Alaska:

Non-custodial parent's gross income from all sources is determined.
The court will deduct a few limited expenses, like taxes, union dues, retirement contributions, and support for prior children, from the income.
The court will take this figure and apply a certain percentage for each individual child (20% for one, 27% for two, and 33% for three).
The court will not consider income above $100,000 when determining child support.

In order to change child support obligations without delay, you must act promptly. Child support cannot be retroactively modified, meaning that once the first day of the month passes, and there is an order for back support, the court will lock in that amount. In order to challenge back child support, you must act promptly.

Not every lawyer is competent to handle child support issues. For instance, issues may arise related to arrearages (back support), parents residing in different states, orders seeking to change support, or in cases of shared, divided, or third-party custody.

Do not waste thousands of dollars on unnecessary attorney's fees. We make sure you get insightful legal advice about your issues. Contact Kenneth Kirk & Associates to learn more about child support.