(a) Except as provided in (b), (c), (f), and (h) of this section and Alaska Stat. § 09.38.050, an individual debtor is entitled to an exemption of the individual debtor’s weekly net earnings not to exceed $350. The weekly net earnings of an individual are determined by subtracting from the weekly gross earnings all sums required by law or court order to be withheld. The weekly net earnings of an individual paid on a monthly basis are determined by subtracting from the monthly gross earnings of the individual all sums required by law or court order to be withheld and dividing the remainder by 4.3. The weekly net earnings of an individual paid on a semi-monthly basis are determined by subtracting from the semi-monthly gross earnings all sums required by law or court order to be withheld and dividing the remainder by 2.17.
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Terms Used In Alaska Statutes 09.38.030

  • action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • creditor: includes the state on behalf of a victim of a crime or a delinquent act. See Alaska Statutes 09.38.500
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • dependent: means an individual who derives support primarily from another individual. See Alaska Statutes 09.38.500
  • earnings: means money received by an individual for personal services and denominated as wages, salary, commissions, or otherwise. See Alaska Statutes 09.38.500
  • exempt: means protected, and "exemption" means protection, from subjection to process or a proceeding to collect an unsecured debt. See Alaska Statutes 09.38.500
  • Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
  • levy: means the seizure of property under a writ of attachment, garnishment, execution, or any similar legal or equitable process issued for the purpose of collecting an unsecured debt. See Alaska Statutes 09.38.500
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
  • person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust, or society, as well as a natural person. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
  • property: includes real and personal property. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • state: means the State of Alaska unless applied to the different parts of the United States and in the latter case it includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
  • value: means fair market value of an individual's interest in property, exclusive of liens of record. See Alaska Statutes 09.38.500
  • victim: has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 09.38.500
(b) An individual who does not receive earnings either weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly is entitled to a maximum exemption for the aggregate value of cash and other liquid assets available in any month of $1,400, except as provided in (f) and (h) of this section and in Alaska Stat. § 09.38.050. The term “liquid assets” includes deposits, securities, notes, drafts, accrued vacation pay, refunds, prepayments, and receivables, but does not include permanent fund dividends before or after receipt by the individual.
(c) A creditor may levy upon earnings exempt under (a) and (b) of this section if the creditor’s claim is

(1) enforceable against exempt property under Alaska Stat. § 09.38.065(a)(1) or (3); or
(2) enforceable under an order of a court of bankruptcy under 11 U.S.C. § 1301 – 1330 (Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978).
(d) If the individual debtor is a nonresident, the limitations on garnishment imposed under 15 U.S.C. § 1673 apply.
(e) The following property, unless exempt without limitation under Alaska Stat. § 09.38.015 or 09.38.017, upon receipt by and while it is in the possession of the individual, shall be treated as earnings, income, cash, or other liquid assets under this section:

(1) benefits paid by reason of disability, illness, or unemployment;
(2) money or property received for alimony or separate maintenance;
(3) proceeds of insurance, a judgment, or a settlement, or other rights accruing as a result of bodily injury of the individual or of the wrongful death or bodily injury of another individual of whom the individual was or is a dependent;
(4) proceeds or benefits paid or payable on the death of an insured, if the individual was the spouse or a dependent of the insured; and
(5) amounts paid under a stock bonus, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, or similar plan or contract, providing benefits by reason of age, illness, disability, or length of service.
(f) The state may execute on a judgment awarded to the state or on a judgment of restitution on behalf of a victim of a crime or a delinquent act, and an officer or agent of the state or a state employee, or a former officer, agent, or employee of the state may execute on a judgment to that person against a party to an action who is incarcerated for a criminal conviction by sending a notice of levy to the correctional facility in which the person is incarcerated. All money in an incarcerated person’s account at a correctional facility is available for disbursement under a notice of levy under this subsection, in the following order of priority:

(1) to support the dependents of the incarcerated person and to provide child support payments as required by Alaska Stat. Chapter 25.27;
(2) to satisfy restitution or fines ordered by a court to be paid by the incarcerated person;
(3) to pay a civil judgment entered against the incarcerated person as a result of that person’s criminal conduct;
(4) to reimburse the state for an award made for violent crimes compensation under Alaska Stat. Chapter 18.67 as a result of the incarcerated person’s criminal conduct;
(5) to satisfy other judgments entered against a prisoner in litigation against the state; in this paragraph, “litigation against the state” has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. § 09.19.100.
(g) A creditor may levy upon earnings or liquid assets exempt under (a) or (b) of this section if the money is held outside a correctional facility and the claim is for court-ordered restitution to be paid by a prisoner to the creditor under a judgment for conviction of a crime or an adjudication of delinquency.
(h) In this section,

(1) “correctional facility” has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. § 33.30.901;
(2) “official detention” has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. § 11.81.900(b);
(3) “prisoner” means a person held under the authority of state or municipal law in official detention.
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