Alaska Estate Planning Basics

Alaska estate planning runs on four documents. A will decides who inherits your probate property, who serves as personal representative, and who raises your minor children. A statutory form power of attorney handles your money while you are alive and unable to act. An advance health care directive covers medical decisions. A revocable living trust is optional and sits on top of the other three.

Here is how we sourced this page. Every rule below was read on September 28, 2026 in materials the Alaska Court System publishes or hosts: its self-help pages on wills, trusts, planning before death and transfer on death deeds, the financial power of attorney booklet and advance health care directive form it links for adults, and its court rules. The Alaska Legislature's statute website refused our research requests, so we could not read the Alaska Statutes themselves. We cite a statute number only where a Court System page or form prints it, and where a rule lives only in the statute, this page says so rather than guessing.

This page is a map. Each section states the Alaska rule, names the trap that catches people who follow national advice, then points to the deeper guide. It is general information about Alaska law and not advice about your plan. The Court System itself suggests an estate planning lawyer to help you choose between a will and a trust and to make sure the document is valid under Alaska law.

The Four Documents at a Glance

Age comes first for the will. The Court System's wills page says a will must be made by a person 18 years or older who is of sound mind.

1. An Alaska Will

The Court System's wills page says a will usually must be written, made by a person 18 or older, made by a person of sound mind, signed by that person, and signed by two witnesses. Each witness signs within a reasonable time after watching you sign, or after you tell them the signature on the will is yours.

Three points trip people up.

No notary is part of the rule. A notary enters only through the self-proving affidavit. You and both witnesses make sworn statements that you met the requirements, and the Court System says the affidavit and the will must be notarized. A self-proving will does not need to be proved by other documents or testimony in court.

A handwritten will counts. The Court System's glossary defines a holographic will as one whose main parts are in the handwriting of the person who died and which that person signed, with no witnesses needed. Treat it as a safety net rather than a plan, because your family may have to prove the handwriting later.

A related witness is allowed, with one hard exception. The wills page says a person can witness even if they are related to you or receive a gift under the will. Restricted Native property is different. The Court System's page on steps to take before death explains that Native allotments and townsite lots pass through a federal Bureau of Indian Affairs probate, and the will must be signed by two witnesses who are not related to you and receive nothing under it. Miss that, and the restricted property passes to your heirs under Alaska intestacy law instead.

The same wills page lists what a will lets you do: decide who receives your property and in what amounts, name a personal representative, waive bond for that person, name a guardian for minor children, create a trust, and refer to a signed list of personal items. It also says divorce automatically cancels gifts to a former spouse and the former spouse's relatives, along with any appointment of them as personal representative, trustee or guardian.

Start with a valid Alaska will, and see what happens to property with no will in Alaska intestate succession.

Where to Keep the Original

Lose the original and your plan may fail with it. The Court System warns that if you lose your will, your personal representative might not be able to probate a copy, and your property would pass as if you never made one. It suggests three places for the original:

1. Deposit it with the Superior Court. Form P-100 does this, and Administrative Rule 9(b)(2)(B) sets the fee at $50. The will stays confidential while you are alive.
2. Keep it with your lawyer if the office offers a vault service.
3. Keep it in a fireproof safe at home.

The Court System says never to store a will in a safe deposit box, because a court order may be needed to drill the box open if no one has joint access at your death.

2. A Statutory Form Power of Attorney

For adults, the Court System's Powers of Attorney page links a booklet written by Alaska Legal Services Corporation, dated January 2017. Its form calls itself a statutory form power of attorney and cites AS 13.26.600 and the sections that follow. Three rules on that form decide most questions.

Durability is a box you mark. Some states make a power of attorney durable automatically. The Alaska form asks you to choose. If the power starts when you sign, you mark either "This document shall not be affected by my subsequent incapacity" or the line that revokes it on incapacity. The booklet explains that "A durable power of attorney remains effective in the event you become incapacitated." Mark the first line if you want an agent who can still pay your bills after a stroke.

A notary is required. The booklet's directions say the document "must be signed in front of a notary and sealed by him or her." The form has no witness lines.

Your agent gets only what you mark. The form lists lettered categories, from real estate and banking to retirement plans and claims. Leave a box blank and your agent does not have that power. Eight more acts, including gifts, changes to a trust and revoking a transfer on death deed, each need their own separate mark.

Health care is not on this form. The booklet sends you to a separate Alaska advance health care directive. The full walkthrough is in Alaska power of attorney.

3. The Advance Health Care Directive

The Court System links one form for medical planning, titled "Advance Health Care Directive, Alaska Statutes 13.52." It has five optional parts under one signature:

• Part 1 names a health care agent and up to two alternates.
• Part 2 holds your living will instructions, such as comfort care only or prolonging life.
• Part 3 covers organ and tissue gifts.
• Part 4 gives advance instructions on mental health treatment.
• Part 5 names your doctor.

The signing rule is where Alaska directives fail. Section 15 says the directive is not valid for making health care decisions unless it is either signed by two qualified adult witnesses who know you personally, or "acknowledged before a notary public in the state." Your agent cannot witness. Neither can a health care provider employed at the facility treating you, nor an employee of that provider or facility. And at least one of the two witnesses may not be related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, or entitled to part of your estate under your will. Two of your adult children can never be your only witnesses, so a notary is often the simpler route.

The agent waits for a finding. Unless you check the box for immediate effect, the form says the agent's authority starts when a determination is made that you lack capacity, and the physician mainly responsible for your care makes that call. If you sign nothing, Court System form PG-525 says a surrogate may decide under AS 13.52.030 once your physician finds you lack capacity. We could not read who ranks first as surrogate, which is one more reason to name an agent yourself. Read an advance health care directive before you sign.

4. A Revocable Living Trust

The Court System's trusts page explains why a living trust skips probate: the trustee legally owns the trust property, so nothing needs to pass through court when you die. You usually serve as your own trustee while you are alive, and a successor trustee you name takes over at your death.

A trust works only for what you put in it. The Court System says that to avoid probate, you need to transfer ownership of your property to the trust or name the trust as a beneficiary. Real property takes a recorded deed to the trustee. Retirement benefits cannot be owned by a trust, so you name the trust as beneficiary instead.

You still need a will. The trusts page gives three reasons. You might still need a personal representative for a dispute or a lawsuit. People often forget to move property into the trust, and a pourover will sends that property to the trustee through probate. And only a will can name a guardian for a minor child or an incapacitated adult.

Alaska's court rules add a registration option. Administrative Rule 9(b)(2)(C) charges $50 to register a trust document, and Probate Rule 3(e) keeps an alphabetical index of registered trusts. Whether Alaska law requires registration is a statute question we could not read, so ask your lawyer. Setup and funding are covered in a revocable living trust, and the rules for pets are in a trust for an animal.

Naming a Guardian for Your Children

The will is the place to do it. The Court System's wills page calls naming a guardian one of the most important reasons to make a will if you have a minor child. The guardian raises the child and can manage the child's inheritance until 18. If both parents die and neither named a guardian, the page warns that family members may argue, the court decides after hearing from everyone, and the person it picks may not be the one you would choose.

Money needs its own plan. The Court System's planning page warns that a minor who inherits property in their own name receives whatever remains all at once at 18. A trust in the will, or a revocable trust, lets you set a later age or conditions.

Adults can plan for their own guardianship too. The financial power of attorney form lets you nominate the person you want considered if a court ever appoints a guardian or conservator for you, and Part 1 of the health care directive nominates your agent as guardian. More detail is in naming a guardian.

Five Alaska Facts That Shape the Rest of the Plan

There is no Alaska estate tax. The Court System's federal tax page says that as of 2005, Alaska no longer collects a state estate tax. The federal exclusion for a 2026 death is $15,000,000 under 26 U.S.C. 2010(c)(3), so most Alaska families plan around probate and incapacity rather than tax. Property in another state may still face that state's tax.

The house can pass by a recorded deed. The Court System's transfer on death deed page says the deed must be signed before a notary and recorded in each recording district where any part of the property sits, before you die. It has no effect otherwise. You cannot revoke it by will, and creditors have one year after your death to claim against the property, which can slow a sale. See the Alaska transfer on death deed.

Community property is opt-in. The Court System's glossary says spouses can treat property as community property only if both choose to under the Alaska Community Property Act, through a special agreement or trust. Each spouse then owns half, and the couple can have the other half pass automatically to the survivor. The federal tax page adds that for community property, the tax basis in the entire property adjusts at the first death.

Some Alaska assets need their own paperwork. For Native (ANCSA) corporation stock, the Court System says to fill in the stock will on the back of the certificate. A limited entry fishing permit can go to only one person, and without a will naming someone it goes to your spouse, so name the recipient in your will or on the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission's designation form.

Titles pass property outside the will. The Court System's planning page lists joint accounts, life insurance, retirement benefits, a recorded transfer on death deed, and real property spouses own as tenants by the entirety. The same page now mentions a transfer on death title for a boat or vehicle from the Division of Motor Vehicles. The DMV's deceased-owner page did not describe that application when we checked, so ask the DMV before you count on it. Compare every option in keeping assets out of probate.

Next Steps

1. Sign a will with two witnesses who take nothing under it, add the notarized self-proving affidavit, and consider depositing the original with the Superior Court for $50.
2. Sign the statutory form power of attorney before a notary, and mark the line that keeps it working if you become incapacitated.
3. Sign an advance health care directive before a notary in Alaska, or before two qualified witnesses at least one of whom is unrelated to you and inherits nothing.
4. Decide whether a trust earns its cost, and if you sign one, fund it.
5. Check every title and beneficiary form, including ANCSA stock, fishing permits and any Alaska real property.
6. Revisit everything after a divorce, a wedding or a new child.

When the plan is eventually used, the estate moves through the Superior Court in the judicial district where you lived, as described in the Alaska probate guide.

Sources:

• Title: Wills: Overview, Validity, Holographic, Challenges. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/wills.htm
• Title: Glossary of Probate Terms. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/glossary.htm
• Title: Practical Steps to Take Before Death. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/before-death.htm
• Title: Trusts. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/trusts.htm
• Title: Transfer on Death Deed. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/tod-deed.htm
• Title: Federal Tax Matters. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/tax-matters.htm
• Title: Powers of Attorney. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/family/poa.htm
• Title: Power of Attorney (booklet and Alaska statutory form power of attorney). Publisher: Alaska Legal Services Corporation, hosted by the Alaska Court System. Publication Date: January 2017 (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/family/docs/poa-booklet.pdf
• Title: Advance Health Care Directive, Alaska Statutes 13.52 (statutory form and instructions). Publisher: Alaska Legal Services Corporation, hosted by the Alaska Court System. Publication Date: January 2017 (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/family/docs/aahc-directive.doc
• Title: PG-525, Instructions: How to Ask the Court to Appoint a Temporary Guardian in an Emergency (Designation or Assumption of Authority to Make Health Care Decisions by a Surrogate, citing AS 13.52.030). Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Form revision 12/23 (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://public.courts.alaska.gov/web/forms/docs/pg-525.pdf
• Title: Alaska Administrative Rules, Rule 9 (Fees), subsections (b)(2)(B) and (b)(2)(C). Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/rules/docs/adm.pdf
• Title: Alaska Rules of Probate Procedure, Rule 3 (Probate Indices). Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/rules/docs/prob.pdf
• Title: 26 U.S.C. 2010, Unified credit against estate tax. Publisher: Office of the Law Revision Counsel, United States House of Representatives. Publication Date: Current through the prelim release (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section2010&num=0&edition=prelim

It is not legal advice.