Last updated: November 5, 2026
Important note before you start
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Child support may affect custody, public benefits, safety, taxes, and health coverage. If you have a notice or court date, check its deadline. For advice about your case, ask the child support agency, a lawyer, or legal aid.
Bottom line
In Alaska, the Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED) can help parents and other caregivers set up a child support order, collect payments, find a parent, establish legal parentage, and collect overdue support. A child support order may also come from a court. If you already have an order, the right place to change it depends on who issued it.
Start with Alaska CSED at 907-269-6900 or its client portal. For court forms, see the Alaska Court System. You can also read our child support basics before you call. Child support is money from a parent, not a government grant, and payments are not guaranteed to start right away.
If safety, housing, or food cannot wait
If you or your child is in immediate danger, call 911. If contacting the other parent may put you at risk, speak with an advocate before you share an address, school, phone number, or job location. A phone or browser may be monitored; use a safer device when possible. Do not rely on this article as a safety plan.
- The Alaska CDVSA resource page has local programs and crisis lines. The ANDVSA service directory helps you find confidential local services, including rural coverage.
- For American Indian and Alaska Native survivors, the StrongHearts Native Helpline offers confidential support.
- For local food, rent, shelter, or utility help while you wait, check Alaska 2-1-1.
- For a longer safety resource, see our domestic violence help guide. Ask a public-assistance worker about a good-cause exception if cooperating with child support may put your family at risk. Do this before sharing unsafe details.
Where to start in Alaska
Your first move depends on whether you already have a support order. A private promise to pay is not the same as an enforceable order. You do not have to find every document before you ask for help.
| Your situation | Start here | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| No order yet | Apply for CSED services, or address support in a custody or divorce case. | Does legal parentage need to be set first? |
| Alaska court order | CSED can help collect or enforce it. Ask the court about changing it. | Which court form and support worksheet fit my parenting plan? |
| CSED administrative order | Ask CSED about review and modification. | Which proof of income, custody, and health coverage is needed? |
| Missed payments | Check your CSED payment history and contact the caseworker. | Is wage withholding active? Are any arrears recorded? |
| Safety or legal dispute | Talk to an advocate or legal aid before filing. | How can I share evidence without putting my family at risk? |
For court questions, the Family Law Self-Help Center explains steps and forms but does not give legal advice. Alaska Legal Services may be able to advise or represent eligible people in family law matters.
What has changed since June 2026?
Alaska’s Child Support Guidelines Review Committee published proposed updates to Civil Rule 90.3 in August 2026, including a proposal about the $50 minimum. The public comment deadline was October 2, 2026. A proposal is not an approved change to your order. At this review, the court’s public calculation guide still lists the $50 minimum and the $138,000 income cap. Check the court calculation FAQ and ask about any later court order before using those figures.
The portal and contact paths below come from CSED; do not use the retired myAlaska sign-in for child support.
How to apply for child support services
CSED handles state child support services. Go to the CSED Client Portal to register, view case information, and use its tools. Alaska says myAlaska is no longer used for child support services. If you lack the ID numbers to register, call 907-269-6900. The official CSED contact page also lists a toll-free number, mailing address, and call-center hours.
When you call, tell CSED whether you need a new order, help with an existing order, legal parentage, medical support, or overdue payments. CSED can set an administrative support order when there is no court order. It can also collect on an eligible court order and help find the other parent. Ask what you must sign and whether a court case is already open.
If you are in a divorce, custody, dissolution, separation, a domestic violence protective order, or another family law case, the court may need to decide support. Use the Alaska family law forms for the right case type. In cases with children, the court normally needs sworn income information from the parents to set support, even if they agree on an amount.
Keep proof: Save the application date, case number, portal confirmation, copies of forms, notices, and names of staff you talked to. For court form DR-305, download the PDF and open it with a PDF reader; some fields may not work in a browser. Remove Social Security and account numbers from attached proof, as the court form instructs. Never send private records to a site that is not an official program or legal service.
How Alaska calculates child support
Alaska uses Civil Rule 90.3. The DR-310 court guide walks through the math and which forms go with each custody plan. CSED also offers an estimate tool in its portal. An estimate is not a court or agency order.
In a primary physical custody case, support usually starts with the paying parent’s adjusted annual income (income after allowed deductions). Alaska applies these base percentages: 20% for one child, 27% for two, 33% for three, and 3% more for each child after three. This is an annual starting figure; support is usually paid in monthly amounts.
| Parenting plan | What it means | Usual court papers |
|---|---|---|
| Primary custody | One parent has the child at least 70% of the time (about 256 nights). | DR-305 income affidavit. |
| Shared custody | Each parent has the child at least 30% of the year (about 110 nights). | DR-305 and DR-306 worksheet. |
| Divided custody | Each parent has primary custody of at least one different child. | DR-305 and DR-307 worksheet. |
| Hybrid custody | Different children have a mix of shared and primary schedules. | DR-305 and DR-308 worksheet. |
Income may include pay, self-employment, unemployment tied to earlier work, VA disability, SSDI, workers’ compensation, retirement, rental income, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), Alaska Native dividends, and some other sources. Means-tested benefits such as SSI, ATAP, TANF, and SNAP are excluded from child-support income calculations under the court guide. SSDI and SSI are different programs; do not mix them up.
The current court materials describe a basic $50 monthly minimum ($600 per year), with limited exceptions, and a $138,000 adjusted annual income cap for the standard calculation. A court can consider income over that cap when the legal test is met. Alaska also has a low-income adjustment and allowed deductions. These rules can change the amount, so do not multiply gross pay by a percentage and treat that as the order.
Health insurance, child care costs, past support for other children, parenting time, seasonal fishing or construction income, and other facts may matter. For court cases, the DR-305 affidavit asks for financial details. For CSED cases, the official CSED calculation FAQ explains how the agency starts. Ask for help if the other parent has irregular wages or you do not know their earnings.
What papers and details to gather
Start with what you have; ask CSED or the court what is still needed. If the other parent is hard to locate, share last-known work, phone, town, address, employer, union, military, fishing, or seasonal job details that you have and can safely provide.
| Item | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Any existing order or case number | Shows which agency or court already handles support. |
| Child’s birth record; parentage papers | May help establish legal parentage. |
| Tax returns, W-2s, pay stubs | Help show earnings, deductions, and job changes. |
| Health insurance and child care costs | May affect parts of the order. |
| Parenting calendar or overnight records | Helps choose the correct custody worksheet. |
| Payment history and receipts | Helps resolve claims about missing or direct payments. |
| Letters, notices, caseworker names | Helps track appeal deadlines and follow-ups. |
Do not ignore a notice because your folder is incomplete. Call the office, explain what you are missing, and ask how to send it. Keep screenshots or receipts showing when documents arrived.
When parentage is not legally set
Before an order can be enforced against a legal parent, parentage may need to be established. CSED can help with voluntary parentage papers or genetic testing when parentage is disputed. Its parentage FAQ says the mother, father, or legal custodian may apply. A court or CSED may order DNA testing when needed.
Legal parentage can affect more than support, such as health coverage, Social Security, inheritance, Alaska Native corporation dividends, veterans benefits, custody, and visitation. If a child was conceived or born during a marriage, a spouse may already be treated as a legal parent. Get advice before signing or challenging parentage papers when facts are disputed.
Tribal child support may be an option
Some families can use a tribal child support program. For example, Tlingit & Haida child support offers parentage, orders, collection, and enforcement. It says anyone can apply, but at least one party must be a tribal citizen for an order to be established in its Tribal Court. Tribal rules and case authority differ from state rules. Ask the program which office should handle your case, especially if a tribal or out-of-state order already exists. The tribal office cannot change custody or visitation orders.
Payments, missed support, and enforcement
Most payments CSED collects come through wage withholding: an employer holds back part of the paying parent’s wages and sends it through the support system. Alaska’s enforcement FAQ says the general state limit is 40% of net disposable earnings, or 50% when court-ordered health coverage costs are counted. Special cases may allow higher withholding, but federal limits still apply. These are withholding limits, not the formula for deciding how much support is owed.
CSED may also use legal tools to collect arrears (past-due support), such as some tax refund offsets and PFD withholding. Its PFD information page describes how an Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend can be intercepted to pay support, including some cases involving other states. Do not count on a PFD interception to solve a short-term rent or food emergency.
If the paying parent moves, becomes self-employed, or takes seasonal work, give CSED any updated details you know. An out-of-state case may involve more than one agency, and payment timing can vary. Ask how CSED will work with the other state and which agency has power to change the order.
Direct payments can be hard to prove
For payments made outside CSED, save receipts, bank records, copies of money orders, or signed written confirmations. Ask CSED whether and how to report them. Do not assume a cash transfer will appear on the agency’s payment record.
Is there a child support service fee?
Alaska CSED’s annual fee rules say a $35 annual fee can be taken from collections in a qualifying case if the family has never received cash assistance in any state and the custodial party gets at least $550 in support during the federal fiscal year (October 1–September 30). It comes from support payments after $550 has been sent to the family, not as a separate upfront charge. Ask CSED to review it if your family received cash aid in another state. More than one qualifying case can mean more than one fee.
Public assistance matters: if your family receives ATAP or other cash aid, some collected support may be assigned to the state rather than sent to you. Rules differ by benefit type and case. Ask the benefits worker and CSED what support you will receive, what gets kept, and whether a safety-related good-cause exception applies. Do not assume SNAP and ATAP work the same way.
Changing a child support order
A job loss, new pay, custody change, child turning 18, health coverage change, illness, or incarceration does not usually change an existing order by itself. You must request a change from the correct office. Use the CSED modification FAQ to check the process.
- CSED administrative order: CSED can review it. You may ask by phone, email, or writing, with income and health coverage proof. CSED says it may take up to six months, though complete cases may finish sooner. Ask about a three-year review if your income has not been reviewed for three years.
- Alaska court order: the court, not CSED, changes the support amount. Ask the court for the right motion and worksheet.
- Order from another state or tribe: ask which court or child support office has legal authority before filing in Alaska.
A substantial change is often presumed if the new calculation is 15% higher or lower than the existing support amount. Some custody changes and other facts can also matter. CSED says its modified administrative orders generally take effect on the first day of the month after it sends both parents the notice of a planned modification. Past-due amounts usually cannot be erased by a later change. Court-order effective dates can follow different steps, so ask the court. Start as soon as you know a change is needed.
The court’s self-help phone service can explain forms and procedure. Its staff cannot act as your lawyer or tell you what to argue.
If CSED is slow, a decision seems wrong, or you are denied
First, read every page of the letter. Find the case number, the action taken, the response method, and the deadline. A request for review is not always the same as an appeal. If a document is missing, ask how to send it and keep proof of delivery.
The CSED appeals FAQ explains different review and hearing paths. For some formal appeals after an administrative review decision, the deadline is 30 days from the date of that decision. Some matters go to the Office of Administrative Hearings; others must go to Superior Court. Do not assume the same 30-day rule applies to every first notice. Follow the deadline printed on your own notice and get legal advice promptly when unsure.
If the issue is case handling rather than a legal ruling, ask your CSED caseworker first, then a supervisor and section manager. The CSED complaint process explains how to ask for a review when that path has not fixed the problem. A complaint does not replace an appeal and does not stop a deadline. For legal questions, contact Alaska Legal Services or an attorney.
If you need an interpreter or access help: ask the agency or court how to request it. If you cannot travel from a rural community, ask whether remote filing or a phone hearing is possible in your case. Do not miss a hearing while waiting for an answer.
Phone scripts you can use
Starting a CSED case
“Hi, I need to open a child support case. I do not have an order yet. Should I use the portal? What papers do I need, and what if I do not know where the other parent works?”
Checking overdue payments
“Hi, my support payments have stopped. Can you check wage withholding and the payment record? Can I send new work or PFD details?”
Asking to change a court order
“Hi, my Alaska court order may need to change. Which forms do I need, and which custody worksheet fits our schedule? Is there a deadline I should know?”
Raising a safety or appeal concern
“Hi, I have a support issue and I am worried about safety or a deadline. Can you explain the next step and where I can get legal help before I send private information?”
Common mistakes to avoid
- Waiting to ask for a change. An old amount may keep building up until the right action is taken.
- Using a shared-custody worksheet for a primary-custody plan. Count parenting time carefully and ask about special schedules.
- Leaving out income. The PFD and many other earnings count; need-based benefits such as SSI and SNAP are treated differently.
- Stopping court-ordered parenting time because support is late. Support and visitation are separate questions. Seek legal help if safety is at risk.
- Thinking CSED can change any order. Alaska court orders go back to the court for changes.
- Ignoring old mail or a direct payment dispute. Save proof, check notices, and track dates.
Other help while support is pending
Child support can take time. If you need help with food, rent, child care, medical care, or heating, apply for those programs while your case is open. For a broad Alaska starting point, see Alaska family assistance. Check local rules and tell benefits workers about support you receive or are owed when they ask.
For food, see Alaska SNAP and food help. For housing, use Alaska housing assistance. For medical care, start with Alaska health coverage. For child care costs, see Alaska child care help. If heat or power is the urgent issue, use Alaska utility assistance. Each program has its own income and household rules; being owed support does not promise approval.
More official help and forms
The CSED FAQ directory covers child support orders, medical support, enforcement, and parentage. The Alaska Court System’s DR-310 guide linked above lists forms DR-305, DR-306, DR-307, and DR-308. The IRS child support guidance confirms that child support received is not taxable income and support paid is not deductible. For broader state and tribal options, see the federal child support parent resources.
Resumen en español
En Alaska, CSED puede ayudarle a establecer una orden de manutención, cobrar pagos, localizar a un padre y pedir pruebas de paternidad. También puede haber una orden de la corte. Si ya tiene una orden y necesita cambiarla, pregunte si la emitió CSED o la corte. No espere: los pagos atrasados normalmente no se borran.
Guarde cartas, recibos y pruebas de ingresos. Si tiene miedo por su seguridad, hable primero con una persona que ayude a víctimas. No comparta datos privados si hacerlo puede ser peligroso. Si hay peligro inmediato, llame al 911. Esta guía es información general, no asesoría legal.
Frequently asked questions
How do I start child support in Alaska?
Apply for CSED services using its client portal or contact CSED at 907-269-6900. If there is a divorce or custody case, the court may also need to set support.
How much child support will I get?
There is no set amount for all families. Primary custody often starts with 20% of the paying parent’s adjusted annual income for one child, 27% for two, 33% for three, and 3% for each extra child. Other custody plans and adjustments use different math.
Is the Alaska PFD counted as income?
Yes. The Alaska court guide counts PFD and Alaska Native dividends as income for child support. It does not count need-based benefits such as SSI, ATAP, TANF, and SNAP in that calculation.
Can CSED help if the other parent lives in another state?
Often, yes. CSED may work with another state to set or collect support. Ask which agency can change an existing order, since legal authority can be different.
Can I change my support order?
Maybe. CSED can review its own administrative orders, but Alaska court orders must be changed by the court. Ask promptly because changes usually do not erase past-due support.
Is there a fee to receive child support through CSED?
Some cases have a $35 annual collection fee after at least $550 is paid to the family in a federal fiscal year, if the family has never received cash assistance. Ask CSED if your case meets those rules.
What if I disagree with a CSED decision?
Read the notice for its deadline and appeal path. Some formal appeals must be requested within 30 days after an administrative review decision. Ask for legal help if you are unsure.
Do I pay federal income tax on child support?
No. The IRS says child support received is not taxable to the person receiving it, and the person paying it cannot deduct it.
About this guide
This guide uses official federal, Alaska state, court, tribal, and high-trust nonprofit sources linked above.
A Single Mother is independent and is not a government agency, benefits office, lender, law firm, medical provider, or tax advisor.
Rules, funding, local services, and eligibility can change. Confirm details with the official program before you apply or decide what to do.
Verification: Last verified November 5, 2026; next review February 3, 2027.
Corrections: Email suggestions@asinglemother.org if something needs correction.
Disclaimer: This is general information, not legal, financial, medical, tax, immigration, disability, safety, or government-agency advice.
Last updated: November 5, 2026 Next review: February 3, 2027