Court Opinion

ID: 9529946
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:55:47.769953+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:57.505305
License: Public Domain

MATTHEWS, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
Michael Green prepaid his child support obligation in August 1990 in the sum of $39,-913. Because his ordered monthly support obligation was $625, the prepayment meant that he would be current on his child support obligation for the next sixty-three months (without calculating interest on prepaid balances), assuming no change in the support amount. In January 1992 Lori Burton, the child’s mother, began collecting monthly welfare payments of $821 from the state. CSED sought reimbursement of these funds from Green. But the superior court refused to order reimbursement because Green was current on his child support obligation during every month for which reimbursement was sought. I agree with this decision for the following reasons.
Alaska Statute 25.27.120(a) limits child support obligors’ liability for welfare reimbursement to the amount payable under their support orders. It provides:
An obligor is liable to the state in the amount of assistance granted under AS 47.07 and AS 47.27 to a child to whom the obligor owes a duty of support except that, if a support order has been entered, the liability of the obligor for assistance granted under AS 47J25.310 — 47.25.420] may not exceed the amount of support provided for in the support order .... [1]
Although subsection .120(a) consists of only one sentence, it does two distinct things. First, it makes a child support obligor liable *1258to the state for welfare payments that the state has made on behalf of a child. (“An obligor is liable to the state in the amount of assistance granted ... to a child to whom the obligor owes a duty of support....”) Second, the statute limits this liability to the amount established under a child support order. (“[I]f a support order has been entered, the liability of the obligor ... may not exceed the amount of support provided for in the support order....”)
I interpret the limiting language of AS 25.27.120(a) to mean that if an obligor’s support obligation is current when a welfare payment is made, the obligor is not liable to reimburse the state for that payment. A contrary result would effectively require the obligor to pay twice: once to the obligee and once to the state. Such a double payment would violate AS 25.27.120(a)’s mandate that the obligor’s liability “may not exceed the amount of support provided for in the support order.”
CSED does not dispute that subsection .120(a) generally protects obligors from double liability. Instead, it argues that the statute only protects obligors who make their payments to CSED, not — as in this case— directly to the obligee.
In my opinion, this argument lacks merit. The statute does not provide that only payments paid through CSED are entitled to credit when computing the “liability of the obligor for assistance.” Further, direct support payments are statutorily sanctioned and routinely credited against an obligor’s support obligation. The only requirement is that the obligor provide clear and convincing evidence of payment.2 That requirement is met here.
Likewise, the fact that Green prepaid his support should not disqualify him from subsection .120(a)’s protection against double liability. No statute or regulation prohibits prepaid support or directs that it should have different legal consequences than support paid periodically. Our laws generally permit the prepayment of obligations payable in installments.3 The only instance of which I am aware where lump sum prepayments are prohibited is in the area of workers’ compensation. There the prohibition is statutory and explicit.4 Nothing similar exists in our child support statutes or regulations.
In summary, subsection .120(a) protects obligors who are current on their child support obligations from liability to reimburse the state for welfare payments made during the same period. This protection is not lost merely because the obligor has prepaid support payments directly to the obligee before receiving notice of the welfare payments. I would therefore affirm the judgment of the superior court granting credit to Green for his prepaid support.

. AS 25.27.120(a) (emphasis added).

.As CSED, citing AS 25.27.020(b) and CSED Policy 8071.4, states: "When the money is owed to the custodial parent, CSED gives credit for direct payments if the obligor provides clear and convincing evidence of the payments.”

. Indeed, penalties for prepayment are prohibited in a variety of contexts. See, e.g., AS 45.45.010(g) (mortgages on dwellings); AS 45.10.070(a) (retail installment sales).

. See AS 23.30.012 (requiring Board approval for lump sum settlements).