Opinion ID: 2572748
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The superior court failed to make findings on whether Annette paid some of the parties' marital debt.

Text: Annette claims that the superior court erred by failing to assign the debts accumulated by the parties during their marriage. Annette claims that she paid $11,087.62 in marital debt and that three bills remain outstanding. David asserts that the debts in question should be considered Annette's personal debts, and could have been covered by the interim support payments she received from David. The facts are unclear. We have previously held that the superior court must consider whether one spouse is entitled to credits for his or her payment of marital debt with post-separation income in order to preserve the marital estate. [33] We now hold that the superior court must consider any payment of debts accrued during marriage out of post-separation income, regardless of whether the payments preserve the marital estate, because such liabilities are as much a part of the marital estate as marital assets. Therefore, we remand this issue to the superior court to determine whether the debts alleged by Annette existed and whether any such debts are separate or marital property. The superior court should apportion any such debts between the parties in accordance with their status as separate or marital property.