Alaska Grounds for Divorce

What are the grounds for divorce in Alaska?

(1) Failure to consummate the marriage at the time of the marriage and continuing at the commencement of the action;

(2) Adultery;

(3) Conviction of a felony;

(4) Wilful desertion for a period of one year;

(5) Either

(a) cruel and inhuman treatment calculated to impair health or endanger life;

(b) personal indignities rendering life burdensome; or

(c) incompatibility of temperament;

(6) Habitual gross drunkenness contracted since marriage and continuing for one year prior to the commencement of the action;

(7) Incurable mental illness when the spouse has been confined to an institution for a period of at least 18 months immediately preceding the commencement of the action; the status as to the support and maintenance of the mentally ill person is not altered in any way by the granting of the divorce;

(8) Addiction of either party, subsequent to the marriage, to the habitual use of opium, morphine, cocaine, or a similar drug.

(9) A husband and wife together may petition the superior court for the dissolution of their marriage if the following conditions exist at the time of filing the petition:

(a) incompatibility of temperament has caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage;   

If there are unmarried children of the marriage under the age of 19 or the wife is pregnant, and the spouses have agreed on which spouse or third party is to be awarded custody of each minor child of the marriage and the extent of visitation, including visitation by grandparents and other persons if in the child's best interests, and support to be provided on the children's behalf, whether the payments are to be made through the child support services agency and the tax consequences of that agreement;

The spouses have agreed as to the distribution of all real and personal property that is jointly owned or community property, including retirement benefits and the payment of spousal maintenance, if any, and the tax consequences resulting from these payments; the agreement must be fair and just and take into consideration the factors listed in AS 25.24.160(a)(2) and so that the economic effect of dissolution is fairly allocated; and the spouses have agreed as to the payment of all unpaid obligations incurred by either or both of them and as to payment of obligations incurred jointly in the future.

 (b) A husband or wife may separately petition for dissolution of their marriage if the following conditions exist at the time of filing the petition:

(1) incompatibility of temperament, as evidenced by extended absence or otherwise, has caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage;

(2) the petitioning spouse has been unable to ascertain the other spouse's position in regard to the dissolution of their marriage and in regard to the fair and just division of property, including retirement benefits, spousal maintenance, payment of debts, and custody, support and visitation because the whereabouts of the other spouse is unknown to the petitioning spouse after reasonable efforts have been made to locate the absent spouse; and

(3) the other spouse cannot be personally served with process inside or outside the state.