State Unemployment Benefits in Alaska
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development administers unemployment insurance. Benefits that were due and payable to a claimant who dies are not paid through the estate: Alaska Stat. 23.20.370 directs the department to pay them to a surviving relative in a set order, beginning with the spouse.
Administering agency
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Division of Employment and Training Services
Authority
Alaska Stat. 23.20.370
State Unemployment Benefits in Alaska: key facts
- Administering agency
- Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Employment and Training Services (Unemployment Insurance).
- Claim centers
- Anchorage (907) 269-4700; Juneau (907) 465-5552; Fairbanks area (907) 451-2871. Technicians are available 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Alaska Standard Time (AKST), Monday–Friday. The (888) 252-2557 line is toll free only for areas with underserved broadband.
- Hearing impaired
- Dial 711 in Alaska or Alaska Relay (800) 770-8255.
- Who receives a deceased claimant's benefits
- Benefits due and payable to a deceased claimant are paid, under department regulations, to persons in this order: spouse, child, parent, sister or brother, aunt or uncle. The department picks the person within that order whose payment best carries out the purposes of the unemployment law, and the rule does not follow the intestate-succession statutes. A receipt from that person discharges the fund. (Alaska Stat. 23.20.370.)
- Overpayments after death
- Benefits paid that the claimant was not entitled to are a debt to the unemployment fund, but the department may absolve the liability where the individual has died and recovery would be against equity and good conscience; the regulation directs the director to waive repayment in that case. (Alaska Stat. 23.20.390(b); 8 AAC 85.220(b).)
- Overpayment waiver deadline
- The determination of overpayment liability itself states the right to request a waiver. The request must be made within 30 days after the determination of liability becomes final; the director may extend that period where the delay was beyond the individual's control. (8 AAC 85.220(a).)
Governing law: Alaska Stat. 23.20.370
Steps to take when someone dies
- Report the claimant's death to an Alaska unemployment insurance claim center (Anchorage (907) 269-4700, Juneau (907) 465-5552, or Fairbanks (907) 451-2871) so weekly filing and payments stop.
- Identify the person entitled under Alaska Stat. 23.20.370 — spouse first, then child, parent, sibling, aunt or uncle — and ask the claim center what proof of death and relationship it requires.
- Ask the department to determine the benefits that were due and payable for weeks the claimant had already certified before death; those are paid to that relative rather than to the estate.
- If the department issues an overpayment determination for benefits the claimant was not entitled to, request a waiver of repayment within 30 days after the determination becomes final — the director waives it where the individual has died and recovery would be against equity and good conscience (8 AAC 85.220(a), (b)).
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Division of Employment and Training Services
Phone: 907-269-4700
Visit the agency website →Frequently asked questions
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development administers unemployment insurance through its Division of Employment and Training Services. Claim center technicians are available 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Alaska Standard Time, Monday–Friday, in Anchorage at (907) 269-4700, in Juneau at (907) 465-5552, and for the Fairbanks area at (907) 451-2871.
They do not pass through the estate. Under Alaska Stat. 23.20.370, benefits that were due and payable to a claimant who dies are paid to a relative in a fixed order — spouse, child, parent, sister or brother, aunt or uncle — and a receipt from that person discharges the department. Report the death to a claim center and ask what proof of death and relationship it requires.
Not necessarily. Benefits paid that the claimant was not entitled to are a debt to the unemployment fund, but Alaska Stat. 23.20.390(b) lets the department absolve that liability when the individual has died and recovery would be against equity and good conscience, and 8 AAC 85.220(b) directs the director to waive repayment in that case. Request the waiver within 30 days after the determination of liability becomes final (8 AAC 85.220(a)).
Sources
Data sourced from State Unemployment Benefits in Alaska primary sources (6 pages reviewed). How we research.
Administering agency
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Division of Employment and Training Services
Authority
Alaska Stat. 23.20.370