Opinion ID: 2831988
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: A husband and wife filed for dissolution in 1986 and the court awarded the wife monthly child support. But the parties did not actually separate until 2007, save a period apart from 1997 to 2001. Their dissolution was a sham, structured to shield otherwise marital property from the husband’s bankruptcy. After the parties actually separated in 2007, the wife contacted the Child Support Services Division to enforce past due child support dating back to 1986, which totaled nearly $118,000. The husband filed a motion for relief from the child support judgment. The superior court granted the motion after concluding that the parties’ original dissolution had been obtained by a fraud on the court. The superior court used its discretion under Alaska Civil Rule 60(b)(6) to set aside the 1986 dissolution and order a division of property and child support as of 2007, when the parties actually separated. The wife appeals. Because the parties’ 1986 dissolution used the court system as a tool to defraud creditors and thus undermined the court’s integrity, we affirm the superior court’s conclusion that the dissolution was a fraud on the court under Rule 60(b)(6).