Opinion ID: 2516650
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Interim child support

Text: On May 5, 1998 the superior court ordered Will to pay interim child support of $1,362.00 per month, retroactive to December 1, 1997. Will appeals this award, arguing that the superior court erred (1) by awarding interim child support without properly determining child custody; and (2) by not basing the award on the actual percentage of time the children were with each parent. Will first contends that the superior court violated his due process rights by failing to hold a hearing to determine the children's bests interests before awarding Stacey primary interim physical custody. But Will did not request a hearing until after the superior court entered its May 5, 1998 order; by then the court had already reviewed Stacey's motion for interim relief, Will's opposition, and Stacey's reply. Furthermore, Will does not claim any adverse effect causally related to the lack of hearing. In contrast, Will's authority for this contention consists of cases presenting much more significant due process concerns than any alleged deprivation here. [30] We therefore decline to reverse the interim child support order on this ground. Will next argues that although the superior court's interim custody order awarded primary physical custody of the children to Stacey, Will had physical custody of the children forty-three percent of the time in the period before the parties reached a custody agreement. Will argues that it was therefore error not to calculate the interim child support under the shared-physical-custody formula set out in Alaska Civil Rule 90.3(b). We have consistently held that child support awards should be based on the court's custody or visitation order rather than on the parties' actual custody arrangement. [31] We therefore affirm the interim child support award of $1,361 per month because it was based on the superior court's May 5, 1998 interim award of the childrens' primary physical custody to Stacey. But because the May 5, 1998 interim custody award was made retroactive to December 1, 1997, and there was no previous child custody order before the May order was entered, we reverse and remand for recalculation of the child support due based on the parties' actual custody arrangement for periods before May 5, 1998.