Alaska judges have understood custody to include the following two parts:

1. Legal custody, which means the right and responsibility to make major decisions about your child’s upbringing. These decisions include choices about education, health care, morals, and religion.¹
2. Physical custody, which means the right and responsibility for physical care and immediate supervision of your child.²

¹ Elton H. v. Naomi R., 119 P.3d 969, 975 (2005)
² Co v. Matson, 313 P.3d 521, 524 (2013)

There is a preference for both parents to share joint legal custody, regardless of the physical custody arrangement.¹ However, the judge will only order shared custody if it is in the best interests of your child.² The judge will look at the factors listed in How will the judge decide whether or not to give joint custody? to make his/her decision. Additionally, joint legal custody is only appropriate when you and the other parent can cooperate and communicate regarding your child.³

¹ Bell v. Bell, 794 P.2d 97, 99 (1990)
² AK ST § 25.20.060(c)
³ Farrell v. Farrell, 819 P.2d 896, 899 (1991)

If you are not comfortable with the abuser being alone with your child, you might be thinking about asking the judge to order that visits with your child be supervised. If you are already in court because the abuser filed for visitation or custody, you may not have much to lose by asking that the visits be supervised if you can present a valid reason for your request (although this may depend on your situation).

However, if there is no current court case, please get legal advice BEFORE you start a court case to ask for supervised visits. We strongly recommend that you talk to an attorney who specializes in custody matters to find out what you would have to prove to get the visits supervised and how long supervised visits would last, based on the facts of your case.

In the majority of cases, supervised visits are only a temporary measure. Although the exact visitation order will vary by state, county, or judge, the judge might order a professional to observe the other parent on a certain amount of visits or the visits might be supervised by a relative for a certain amount of time – and if there are no obvious problems, the visits may likely become unsupervised. Oftentimes, at the end of a case, the other parent ends up with more frequent and/ or longer visits than s/he had before you went into court or even some form of custody.

In some cases, to protect your child from immediate danger by the abuser, starting a case to ask for custody and supervised visits is appropriate. To find out what may be best in your situation, please go to AK Finding a Lawyer to seek out legal advice.

The judge will generally give custody to whoever s/he thinks will be able to serve the best interests of the child.  This might be one of the child’s parents or someone else with a significant connection to the child.  Preference for custody, however, is given to biological parents. For a non-parent to get custody, s/he must prove that the biological parents are unfit or, if the judge believes that both parents have a history of domestic violence against each other, the judge could give custody to a non-parent.¹  Neither parent is automatically entitled to preference in the awarding of custody, whether or not the parents were married.²

Although the courts try to make sure the child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents, the judge will take domestic violence into consideration when making a decision about custody.³  There is a presumption (assumption) that a parent who has a history of committing domestic violence against the other parent, a child, or a domestic partner may not be awarded sole legal custody, sole physical custody, joint legal custody, or joint physical custody of a child.  This presumption, however, can be overcome if the abusive parent complies with certain requirements.⁴

Also, the fact that an abused parent suffers from the effects of the abuse is not a reason to deny custody to the abused parent unless the court finds that the effects of the domestic violence are so severe that the parent is unable to safely parent the child.⁵

Note: If a parent is deployed into the military, s/he may have the option of delegating (giving) his/her custody/visitation rights to a family member.  See Can a parent who is deployed give his/her visitation rights to a family member?

¹ AK ST § 25.24.150(i)(2)
² AK ST § 25.20.060
³ AK ST § 25.24.150(c)(7)
⁴ AK ST § 25.24.150(g) & (h)
⁵ AK ST § 25.24.150(k)

If you file for visitation before there was ever a court case for custody of the child, you may get visitation if you have established or attempted to establish ongoing personal contact with the child and the visitation is in the child’s best interest.¹

If you file for visitation after there has already been a final custody or adoption order issued by the court regarding the child, you can file for visitation only if:

1. you did not request visitation from the court during the custody or adoption case; or
2. there has been a change in circumstances relating to the custodial parent or the child that justifies reconsideration of your visitation rights.²

If your child, who is your grandchild’s parent, has a history of domestic violence against the other parent or a history of child abuse, this will be taken into account when the judge decides whether to give you visitation rights and what the terms and conditions of the visitation will be.³

¹ AK ST § 25.20.065(a)
² AK ST § 25.20.065(b)
³ AK ST § 25.20.065(c)

A parent who does not have custody has the same access to the medical, dental, school, and other records of the child as the custodial parent.¹ Therefore, if for safety purposes, you are trying to keep your address confidential from the abuser, you might want to ask the child’s school, doctor, etc. if you can use a relative’s address or if you can list your address as a P.O. Box.

¹ AK ST § 25.20.130

The judge will look at many things to decide what is in the best interest of the child. If you are filing for custody, you should be prepared with as much information as possible about the other parent, the child, and yourself. Here are some things a judge will look at when determining what is in the “best interest” of the child:

1. the physical, emotional, mental, religious, and social needs of the child and whether or not the parent has the desire and ability to meet those needs;
2. what the child wants, if s/he is old enough and mature enough to give an opinion;
3. the love and affection existing between the child and each parent;
4. the length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining that same situation;
5. the desire and ability of each parent to allow a close and continuing relationship between the child and the other parent. Note: The judge cannot consider this if one parent shows that the other parent has sexually assaulted or committed domestic violence against the parent or child and that a continuing relationship with the abusive parent will endanger the health or safety of either the parent or the child;
6. any evidence of domestic violence, child abuse, or child neglect in the house where the child would live or a history of violence between the parents;
7. evidence that substance abuse by either parent or other members of the household directly affects the emotional or physical well-being of the child; and
8. other factors that the judge thinks are important.¹

There is a presumption (assumption) that a parent who has a history of committing domestic violence against the other parent, a child, or a domestic partner may not be awarded sole or joint legal custody or sole or joint physical custody. This presumption, however, can be rebutted (overcome).²

Also, the fact that an abused parent suffers from the effects of the abuse is not a reason to deny custody to the abused parent unless the judge finds that the effects of the domestic violence are so severe that the parent is unable to safely parent the child.³

¹ AK ST § 25.24.150(c)
² AK ST § 25.24.150(g)
³ AK ST § 25.24.150(h)

If a parent or a guardian ad litem asks for shared custody of a child and the judge denies that request, the judge will put the reasons s/he denied your request on the court record.¹

¹AK ST § 25.20.100

Under a federal law called the UCCJEA, you can generally only file for custody in the “home state” of the child. The “home state” is the state where the child has lived with a parent, or a person acting as a parent, for at least six consecutive months. If the child is less than six months old, the “home state” is the state where the child has lived from birth. Temporarily going out of the state does not change anything. If you and your child recently moved to a new state, generally you cannot file for custody in that new state until you have lived there for at least six months. Until then, a custody case can be started in the state that the child last lived in for at least six months.

There are exceptions to the home state rule, however. In some cases, you can file for custody in a state where the children and at least one parent have “significant connections.” Usually, however, you can only do this if there is no home state or if the home state has agreed to let another state have jurisdiction.¹  This can be complicated, and if you think this applies to your situation, please talk to a lawyer in both states about this. If you have lived in Alaska for less than six months, and you, your child, or your child’s sibling are in danger of maltreatment or abuse, see Can I get temporary emergency custody?

¹ AK ST § 25.30.300

If you get a protective order due to domestic violence, the order may include temporary custody and/or temporary visitation rights for children. Be sure to tell the judge that you want custody during your protective order hearing so that the judge can consider your request. Custody granted with that protective order expires with that order. Alaska’s long-term protective orders are good for one year so that is how long the custody provisions would last. The judge may extend a temporary order if s/he feels it is necessary.¹

¹ AK ST § 18.66.100(c)(9)

Learn about what types of custody are available and how domestic violence might affect custody in your state. Think about what you will ask for, what would be best for your child, and what would be safest for both of you.  

You can prepare for court by gathering evidence that helps explain why you should have custody. Your evidence should relate to the “best interest factors” that a judge looks at to determine what’s best for your child. You can see How will a judge make a decision about custody? for more information.

Custody cases are complicated, so you may want to get a lawyer. If you can hire someone, you can use this list of questions as your guide when deciding which lawyer to choose. If you can’t hire a lawyer, you may at least want to try getting a free or low-cost consultation to help you make a legal strategy for your case.

The next step in the custody process is to have “preliminary” court dates. Preliminary means introductory or preparatory. These might have a different name in your state, such as “first appearance,” “status conference,” or something else. They are when certain issues can be dealt with in the early stages of the case. Some of the issues that might be dealt with are:

• problems with service of process;
• referrals to mediation;
• temporary custody and visitation orders; and
• pretrial motions.

During this stage, the judge will often give temporary custody and visitation orders that last while the case continues. In some cases, the judge may assign a guardian ad litem or an attorney for the child.

For more information to help you prepare for the preliminary court dates, go to The first appearance in our Before the Trial section. 

If you disagree with the judge’s order, there are a couple of legal actions you would need to file right away, such as a motion for reconsideration or an appeal.

• A motion for reconsideration asks the judge to decide differently based on the law or new evidence.
• An appeal moves the case to a higher court and asks that court to review the lower court’s decision due to a judge’s error.

Each state has a set time limit to file these actions, usually ranging from 10 to 60 days. To know your case’s exact timeframe, you should ask an attorney in your state.  

You might also be able to ask the judge to change your order in the future if there is a “substantial change of circumstances” after the case is decided. You can do this by filing a motion or petition to change (modify) the order. However, usually, this can only be filed under certain circumstances. Here are a few examples of events that might be considered substantial changes in circumstances:

• The other parent gets sent to jail or charged with child abuse or neglect;
• The other parent is not following the custody and visitation order; or
• Your child’s needs change in a big way.

Custody or visitation can be changed if the judge believes there has been a change in circumstances that requires changing (modifying) the order and the change (modification) is in the child’s best interests.¹ A crime involving domestic violence is considered to be a “change in circumstances.”² Also, a parent’s temporary duty, recruitment, or deployment to military service could be the reason to temporarily modify an order.³ To read more about situations involving military deployment, go to Can a parent modify a custody order because of military service?

When deciding whether to modify (change) the custody order, the judge should consider the history of the parents’ child support payments. However, the court may consider a parent’s failure to pay child support only if the parent had actual knowledge of the amount of the child support s/he was required to pay and had the money available for payment of support or the parent could have gotten the money through “reasonable efforts.”⁴

To change a custody order, you will usually need to go to the court that issued the order, even if you have moved. Alaska will generally keep jurisdiction (power) over a custody order that was made in an Alaska court unless neither of the parents and the child continue to live in Alaska or Alaska no longer has significant connections with evidence about the child. Under certain circumstances, Alaska may have the power to modify an out-of-state custody order if the state that issued the original order agrees to give power to Alaska and if other certain requirements are met.⁵ Since the requirements are complicated, to find out more about this (and all custody issues), we recommend you talk to a lawyer. Go to the AK Finding a Lawyer page to find a list of legal resources in Alaska.

¹ AK ST § 25.20.110(a)
² AK ST § 25.20.110(c)
³ AK ST § 25.20.110(e)
⁴ AK ST § 25.20.110(b)
⁵ See AK ST § 25.30.320 & § 25.20.300

There are a couple of legal steps that can be taken immediately after the judge makes the order if your situation fits the circumstances explained below:

• A motion for reconsideration asks the judge to decide differently based on the law or new evidence.
• An appeal moves the case to a higher court and asks that court to review the lower court’s decision due to a judge’s error.

There could also be an option that you may take in the future, but not immediately after the judge makes the order. A motion or petition to change (modify) the order is a legal request that could be filed if, later on, a “substantial change of circumstances” happens. A few examples of substantial changes of circumstances could be if the other parent gets sent to jail, gets charged with child abuse or neglect, moves to another state, or if your child’s needs significantly change.

Learn more about these options in our After a Decision is Issued section. To find out how the process works in your area and to get advice for your specific situation, contact a local lawyer. Go to our AK Finding a Lawyer page for legal referrals.​

If one parent is deployed, a judge can temporarily modify a custody or visitation order to account for the parent’s relocation or absence.  In the temporary custody order, the judge should:

• arrange for custody or reasonable visitation during the deployed parent’s leave period if it’s in the child’s best interest;
• explain in the order that the temporary order will terminate (end) and the parents will go back to the terms of the original, permanent custody order within 10 days after the deployed parent notifies the court/ other parent that s/he can resume custody or visitation unless the non-deployed parent can prove to the judge that the terms of the original, permanent order are no longer in the child’s best interest. See more information at What if I feel it is unsafe to go back to the original custody order?;
• arrange for immediate notification by each parent of any change of address or contact information to the other parent and to the court (unless due to domestic violence, the abused parent’s address must be kept confidential – in that case, it would only be given to the court, not the other parent; and
• let another family member of the deployed parent use his/her visitation rights, called “delegation” of visitation, under an existing order, but only under certain circumstances. See Can a parent who is deployed give his/her visitation rights to a family member?¹

¹ Alaska Statute § 25.20.110(e)

Within 10 days of the deployed parent notifying the other parent/ court that s/he can resume custody or visitation, the temporary, modified custody order will no longer be in effect and the parents will go back to the terms of the original, permanent custody order unless the judge believes it is not in the child’s best interest to go back to the original order. Note: It would be up to the non-deployed parent to prove that resuming the terms of the original custody or visitation order is not in the best interest of the child.¹

If the deployed parent has been moved out of state and the non-deployed parent believes that going back to the original, permanent custody order will result in immediate danger or severe harm to the child or there has been domestic violence, the non-deployed parent can file a motion (legal papers) in court. The judge must arrange for a hearing on this issue.²

¹ Alaska Statute § 25.20.110(e)(2)
² Alaska Statute § 25.20.110(e)(3)

When a parent who is deployed files a petition for custody or visitation, s/he may include a request to delegate (give) his/her visitation rights to a family member to use instead. The judge should allow the family member to use the visitation rights only if:

• the family member has an existing close relationship to the child; and
• it is in the child’s best interest.

However, if the family member wanting visitation has a history of domestic violence against a spouse, a child, or a domestic living partner, or lives with someone who does, then the judge has to assume that the family member cannot use the visitation although the family member can present evidence to try to change the judge’s mind about this.¹

¹ Alaska Statute § 25.24.150(c), (g)