Finding a Last Will and Testament in Alaska

Question: My father lived in Juneau and he passed away a few years ago. I would like to find his will. Where do I start?

Answer: Below are several methods you can use to search for your father’s will. These are not necessarily all of the possible methods, and this information does not constitute legal advice. You may wish to consult a lawyer for assistance in matters concerning your father's death, his last will and testament, or his estate. The Alaska Bar Association offers a directory of bar members and a lawyer referral service.

If your father made a will, you may find a copy of it in Alaska’s court records. A person who has made a will in Alaska can deposit it with the court while they are still living. For more information about this process, see the publication "Depositing Your Will" from the Alaska Court System.

In addition, if your father's estate was probated or subject to other types of court proceedings, you may find a copy of his will in the court case file. In Alaska, the Superior Court handles probate cases. To determine whether a case file relating to your father exists, search Alaska’s trial court case record database, called CourtView. Try entering just your father’s name to conduct a broad search. If you see your father’s name, you can identify the type of case he was involved in using letters in the case number. More information about case numbers is published at the Alaska Court System's CourtView Online Information page. Probate case numbers have “PR” as a suffix and case numbers representing the simple deposit of a will include “WI” as a suffix.

You can also contact the Superior Court for assistance in searching CourtView and ordering a copy of the will should you find a court case relating to your father’s will or estate. Contact information for the Superior Court in Juneau is published in the court directory. Information about ordering court records is published at requesting copies of court records.

If a lawyer assisted your father with his will, the lawyer may have it. It is also possible that another member of the family may have the will, or it may still be among your father's belongings. People sometimes keep wills in safe deposit boxes, but since it has been years since your father’s death, such a box may no longer exist.

Building codes

Question: Where do I find the Alaska building codes?

Answer: Like many states, Alaska relies heavily on uniform building codes. The precise codes that the state uses, as well as any changes or sections not employed, are listed in the Alaska Administrative Code: 13 AAC 50. The Alaska State Library maintains the current and previous two editions of the International Building Code and some other codes. For details, search our catalog.

The specific codes you need may be available at a library near you, but they usually are not available to be checked out. If they aren't available locally for you, you can request specific pages through interlibrary loan, or you can purchase a copy (or, much less expensively, purchase portions that relate to your specific needs). Just check your favorite local or online bookstore.

Alaskan historical census data

Question: How many WWI veterans lived in Anchorage in 1970?

Answer: 82, according to "Table 102, Social Characteristics for Places of 10,000 - 50,000: 1970" found on page 3-135 of the US Census "General Social and Economic Characteristics: Alaska" from the 1970 Census.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development/Research and Analysis Division has scanned and posted PDFs of Alaska related census reports from 1880, 1910 and 1940 through 1990 at Alaska Census 1880-2010. For 1980, these reports include:

Number of Inhabitants
General Population Characteristics
Detailed Population Characteristics
General Social and Economic Characteristics

Alaska Census Data from 2000 and beyond can be located at Labor's Alaska Census Data and Information page.

Presidential speeches

Question: Where can I find the official version of the speech that President Ronald Reagan gave on the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger and the official version of the speech that President George W. Bush gave on the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia?

Answer: The official version of both speeches can be found in Public Papers of the Presidents as follows:

Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986 - page 94-95 of:

Reagan, Ronald. 1989. Public papers of the Presidents of the United States Ronald Reagan. 1986. Washington: United States Government Printing Office.

Address to the Nation on the Loss of Space Shuttle Columbia, February 1, 2003 - page 119-120 of:

Bush, George W. 2006. Public papers of the presidents of the United States, George W. Bush: 2003. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.

President Bush's speech is also available electronically through the FDSys system at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-2003-book1/pdf/PPP-2003-book1-doc-pg119.pdf.

Local Sales Taxes

Question: How many communities in Alaska do NOT have a sales tax?

Answer: Currently, 253. You can verify this for yourself by visiting the Alaska Community Database. Under Public Query System, go to Advanced Search Options, select all the communities in the left hand box and add them to the right hand box, then click Next. On the next screen, choose "sales tax" from the left hand box and add it to the right hand box, then click Next. Then run the report. Save the file and open it up in your favorite spreadsheet. When we checked, 253 was the number of communities that report "None".