Bendixen v. Bendixen

BRYNER, Justice.

After being jailed on criminal charges, Michael Bendixen moved to modify his child support payments, alleging a drop in income. The superior court held that Bendixen’s incarceration was equivalent to voluntary unemployment. But serving jail time is seldom a goal of criminal misconduct, and so is not identical to purposeful unemployment; moreover, Alaska Civil Rule 90.3 imposes the same payment requirement on all parents who cannot afford support, even parents whose indigence stems from incarceration. We therefore reverse.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Michael E. Bendixen and Bonita…