Rowena Weathers, Appellant v. Dennis Weathers, Appellee.

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court reversed a custody order awarding the father 59% of the child's overnights and remanded for a new best-interests analysis. The superior court did not violate the mother's due process rights because she had notice and an opportunity to address the role of the paternal grandparents, but it abused its discretion by treating grandparent involvement as dispositive while failing to properly evaluate the father's interference with the mother's relationship with the child. The court also explained that when the statutory factors are generally even, a 50/50 shared-custody schedule is ordinarily an appropriate starting point.