Your state’s pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the Alaska T&E solo who knows the Uniform Probate Code (Alaska’s AS Title 13) cold but still loses an afternoon a week hunting the current homestead number, the Long Term Care Medicaid (Alaska DOH) waiver posture, whether the latest Alaska Bar Association ethics opinion changes how you scope an engagement, or whether a recent Court of Appeals of Alaska decision just moved the law on capacity, undue influence, or a trustee’s duties. What’s below is what mattered in Alaska lately — the week’s developments and the recent rulings from the bench.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments from the last seven days that I think actually matter to a Alaska T&E solo. Each one has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each one comes with the citation so you can verify the detail yourself before you use it with a client.
Per the opinion, Alaska Bar Ethics Opinion 2025-1 (adopted Apr. 23, 2025) addresses generative AI under the Alaska Rules of Professional Conduct: competence and diligence (ARPC 1.1/1.3 — verify AI output, account for hallucination risk), confidentiality (1.6 — review data-retention terms, anonymize inputs), client communication (1.2/1.4), fees (1.5 — no duplicate or inflated charges; you can’t bill the client to learn the tool), and supervision (5.1/5.3/8.4).
For an Alaska solo, this is the controlling ethics authority for any AI-assisted work: verify every AI-generated citation against the primary source, screen client confidential information out of tool inputs, and keep fees honest — the opinion is explicit that you cannot bill a client for your own time learning the software. If you have adopted an AI tool, square your verification, confidentiality, and billing practices with EO 2025-1 now.
Alaska Bar Ethics Opinion 2025-1 (adopted Apr. 23, 2025) · alaskabar.org · 2025-1
Per the Alaska Legislature’s bill record, SB 104 (34th Leg., 2025–26) would allow titled vehicles, and some manufactured homes, to pass on death to up to two beneficiaries outside probate. As of the record it sits in Senate Finance (May 2025) and is not enacted — the existing TOD framework for real property under AS 13.48 does not yet extend to vehicles.
For an Alaska solo, the practical posture today is unchanged: there is no TOD title for a vehicle, so a car or boat still passes through the estate (or by other nonprobate means) until SB 104 becomes law. Don’t plan a client’s vehicle around a TOD title that doesn’t yet exist — track the bill, and revisit titling advice only if and when it is enacted.
Alaska SB 104 (34th Leg., 2025–26) · akleg.gov · SB 104
Per the Alaska Department of Health long-term-care Medicaid materials, the 2026 figures are an individual income cap of $2,982/mo (300% of the Federal Benefit Rate — Alaska is an income-cap state) and an asset limit of $2,000 for a single applicant ($3,000 for both spouses). The LTC line is Long Term Care Medicaid (Non-MAGI / Aged, Blind & Disabled); “DenaliCare” is the Medicaid card brand, not a separate LTC program.
For an Alaska solo screening a long-term-care plan, these are the numbers to apply this year: the $2,982 income cap is a hard cutoff in an income-cap state, so a client over it needs the right planning vehicle rather than a share-of-cost path, and the $2,000 single asset limit drives the spend-down math. Reconfirm the exact DOH figure at each refresh, and don’t let the “DenaliCare” card name mislead a client into thinking it is the LTC program.
Alaska DOH — Long Term Care Medicaid eligibility (2026) · health.alaska.gov · senior & disabilities services
Decisions from the courts that bind an Alaska practitioner — the Alaska Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals of Alaska, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, and the Ninth Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
Across the Alaska appellate courts and the federal courts covering Alaska, no qualifying trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision has been verified for this period. Per the lane’s no-invent rule, this row says so plainly rather than inflating a holding. The lane reads each opinion before it lands here, and reads-and-discards Medicaid program/provider litigation as not T&E.
Nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority is unchanged.
Awaiting verified weekly signal — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
This slot holds the next significant trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision from Alaska’s appellate courts or the federal courts covering Alaska. When the trailing window has no new ruling, this row says so plainly rather than inventing one.
[Per-state “what this means today” paragraph lands here once a ruling is populated — otherwise: nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority unchanged.]
Official reporter · court · date — never courtlistener.com
This week in Alaska for the T&E solo with Alaska Medicaid (DenaliCare / Long Term Care Medicaid) clients: the developments from the Alaska Bar Association (Estate Planning & Probate Law Section) and the Alaska Department of Health that actually moved your practice this period — each one primary-source verified.
Bar and Medicaid changes land on different schedules and aren't indexed by practice focus. Every item here was checked against its primary source, with the link, so you can verify before relying on it.