Heustess v. Kelley-Heustess, 259 P.3d 462

This is the Alaska Supreme Court’s second appeal by Allen Heustess challenging a superior court decision on child support, property division, and attorney’s fees arising from a 2004 divorce from Bonnie Kelley-Heustess.
The court on remand in 2008-2009 addressed child support arrearage, property distribution (noting potential double-counting of vexatious conduct), and attorney’s fees under a two-step framework.
The parties have a son born December 1991; they married in June 1999, separated in late 2002, and divorced in 2005; the marital home and Palmer land were allocated with a 60/40 split favoring Bonnie on initial findings, later revised to Bonnie 68% on remand.
The 2008 remand findings valued the marital estate at $178,127, with Bonnie receiving $36,000 in personal property, the marital residence, and Palmer land; Allen received the remainder.
The court ultimately reversed part of the child support arrearage computation (including 1995 income finding and federal tax deductions), remanded for recalculation, remanded property division for further Merrill-factor findings to address potential double-counting, vacated the general attorney’s-fee award but affirmed enhanced fees, and affirmed most other rulings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Statute of limitations tolling for minor child	Bonnie’s claim tolls; 09.10.140 tolls during minority.	Allen contends the period is barred by 09.10.100.	Tolled during minority; not barred.
Credit for prior-child support payments	Deduct all pre-birth arrearage payments from gross income.	Only post-birth payments should be deducted.	Deduction limited to $825; pre-birth arrears not deductible.
Mandatory federal tax deduction under Rule 90.3	Federal income tax liability must be deducted from gross income for 1991–1996.	Tax deduction not properly determined for those years.	Remand to include mandatory tax deductions for 1991–1996.
Support for 1995 income finding	1995 income finding of $40,000 not supported by record; remand for findings.	Court could rely on other evidence.	Reversed; remand for additional findings on 1995 income.
Potential double-counting of vexatious conduct in property division and fees	Court may not double-count vexatious conduct in division and fees.	Conduct may be considered in both contexts.	Remand for additional findings to isolate grounds and avoid double-counting.

Heustess v. Kelley-Heustess, 158 P.3d 827 (Alaska 2007) (reversed property division and vacated fee award on remand; set Merrill factors framework)
Grober v. State, Department of Revenue, Child Support Enforcement Division ex rel. C.J.W., 956 P.2d 1230 (Alaska 1998) (tolling of child-support-related claims applies to minor children)
Valdez v. Valdez, 941 P.2d 144 (Alaska 1997) (right to support belongs to the child; tolling context cited)
Dean v. Dean, 902 P.2d 1321 (Alaska 1995) (enforcement of judgments; timing considerations for limitations)
Harvey v. Cook, 172 P.3d 794 (Alaska 2007) (waiver/estoppel concepts in reimbursement context; reconciliation with statutory limits)