Opinion ID: 1177918
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dismissal Of Arrears

Text: On June 9, 1980, a petition to initiate support proceedings under URESA was filed by the State of Michigan on behalf of Michigan resident Laureen Bailey. The petition was filed in Kenai Superior Court naming Dennis Haas, a resident of Alaska, as respondent. A motion for an order of support was filed in Kenai Superior Court on October 3, 1980, requesting $240 per month in ongoing support and $10,255.78 in arrears. At a child support hearing on January 16, 1981, the superior court dismissed the action for arrearages because the petition did not specifically pray for such a judgment and because it considered Michigan to be in a better position to ask for judgment within that state. We hold that the superior court erred in its dismissal on both grounds. First, the petition's failure to include a prayer for arrearages did not justify dismissal of the claim. The function of a pleading is to give notice of the type of claim asserted. See Morrow v. New Moon Homes, Inc., 548 P.2d 279, 295 (Alaska 1976). The body of the petition stated that Haas had contributed nothing toward the support for his daughter. Further, the motion for an order of support specifically requested arrearages. Therefore, Haas had notice of the claim for arrearages at the very latest by October 3, 1980, when the motion was filed. The superior court's second ground of dismissal seems to be based on the assumption that a request for arrearages must be reduced to judgment by the petitioning state. There is no such requirement. It is clear that in URESA actions, Alaska law applies. [2] Under Alaska law, arrearages are recoverable in URESA actions. [3] Thus, the superior court's dismissal of the claim for arrears was in error.