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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Law
Rideout V. Riendeau: Grandparent Visitation In Maine After Troxel, Theodore A. Small
Rideout V. Riendeau: Grandparent Visitation In Maine After Troxel, Theodore A. Small
Maine Law Review
Rideout v. Riendeau presented a case in which two grandparents, Rose and Chesley Rideout, sought visitation of their three grandchildren. Though the Rideouts had served as the childrens' “primary caregivers and custodians” for significant periods of time, the childrens' parents, Heaven-Marie Riendeau, who was the Rideouts' daughter, and Jeffrey Riendeau, ended all contact between the children and the Rideouts due to a strained relationship between the Rideouts and the Riendeaus. The Rideouts filed a complaint pursuant to Maine's Grandparents Visitation Act (the Act), which allows grandparents to bring a petition for visitation when there is a “sufficient existing relationship between …
Protecting Children In Divorce: Lessons From Caroline Norton, Lucy S. Mcgough
Protecting Children In Divorce: Lessons From Caroline Norton, Lucy S. Mcgough
Maine Law Review
No fault divorce is now popularly accepted, at least in non-Catholic populations of the West. Furthermore, the role of the court in divorce and separation disputes has dramatically adjusted from a fact-finder of fault, its traditional adjudicatory role, to an administrative overseer of the process of unwinding the family financial enterprise and approving parenting arrangements. Less appreciated because it is a still-incomplete contemporary transfiguration is the divorce court's role in attempting to enhance parents' future interactions with each other. It is estimated that one-fourth to one-third of divorcing parents have considerable difficulty regaining their footing after separation and perhaps one …
Gender And Nation-Building: Family Law As Legal Architecture, Tracy E. Higgins, Rachel P. Fink
Gender And Nation-Building: Family Law As Legal Architecture, Tracy E. Higgins, Rachel P. Fink
Maine Law Review
In considering the legal architecture of nation-building, we might most readily think of public law as our subject insofar as it governs the relationship between the individual and the state, and establishes the institutions of governance and the sources and limits of their power. The essays in this volume, in large part, track this instinct in that they concern themselves with fields such as constitutional law, criminal law, and public international law. Closer to the margin of public and private law are essays dealing with various dimensions of the modern regulatory state, including banking and commercial transactions. In each of …
The Crossroads Of A Legal Fiction And The Reality Of Families, Andrew L. Weinstein
The Crossroads Of A Legal Fiction And The Reality Of Families, Andrew L. Weinstein
Maine Law Review
In Adoption of M.A., the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, held that an unmarried, same-sex couple could file a joint petition for adoption of two foster children in their care. This recent decision is only a fraction of a story that originated a long time ago when same-sex couples began raising children. This Comment begins by examining the role of the state courts and the United States Supreme Court in their exposition of family law relating to adoption by same-sex couples. The United States Supreme Court has periodically weighed in on family law and parenting in …
Stories Told And Untold: Confidentiality Laws And The Master Narrative Of Child Welfare, Matthew I. Fraidin
Stories Told And Untold: Confidentiality Laws And The Master Narrative Of Child Welfare, Matthew I. Fraidin
Maine Law Review
In most states, child welfare hearings and records are sealed or confidential. This means that by law, court hearings and records may not be observed. The same laws and court rules also preclude those who are authorized to enter and watch from discussing anything learned or observed in a closed courtroom or from a sealed court record with anyone not involved in the case. It is the restriction on speech—on telling stories about child welfare—with which this Article is concerned. I will argue in this Article that the insights of narrative theory and agenda-setting studies help us understand the damaging …
The New Phoenix: Maine's Innovative Standards For Guardians Ad Litem, Dana E. Prescott
The New Phoenix: Maine's Innovative Standards For Guardians Ad Litem, Dana E. Prescott
Maine Law Review
In a 2014 article in the Maine Law Review, the author reviewed the historical and legal foundations for guardian ad litem (GAL) appointments by judges on behalf of children in Maine. GALs are appointed to provide the court with investigative facts and recommendations concerning the best interest of a child. The implications and frustrations expressed during political and policy discussions reflect a broader national debate deeply rooted in the power of family law courts when child custody or abuse and neglect are alleged. Whether in the form of child protection or child custody litigation, the sheer volume and complexity of …
Domestic Violence And Enforcement Of Protection From Abuse Orders: Simple Fixes To Help Prevent Intra-Family Homicide, Nicole R. Bissonnette
Domestic Violence And Enforcement Of Protection From Abuse Orders: Simple Fixes To Help Prevent Intra-Family Homicide, Nicole R. Bissonnette
Maine Law Review
Domestic violence has long been recognized as a pressing law enforcement and societal concern, and both federal and state governments have continued to pursue strategies to address the issue. Beyond the criminal threatening, assaults, batteries, and other physical atrocities that victims face, domestic violence provides an added horror—“obliterating personhood, suspending identity and nullifying any notion of personal autonomy.” To address these concerns, legislatures created Protection from Abuse Orders (hereinafter PFAs), to protect those that have been subject to abuse from trusted family members or dating partners. Unfortunately, victims then place their trust in the system, which often fails to deter …
Recognizing Gestational Surrogacy Contracts: "Baby-Steps" Toward Modern Parentage Law In Maine After Nolan V. Labree, Adam Quinlan
Recognizing Gestational Surrogacy Contracts: "Baby-Steps" Toward Modern Parentage Law In Maine After Nolan V. Labree, Adam Quinlan
Maine Law Review
In Nolan v. LaBree, a husband and wife filed a complaint seeking a judgment declaring their legal parentage of a newborn child born via gestational surrogacy. All parties surrounding the birth of this child entered into a surrogacy contract and are in agreement that the genetic mother and father bringing this suit should be declared as the legal parents. When the child was born, however, the birth certificate did not reflect the intentions of the contract, listing the parents as the surrogate mother and the surrogate mother’s spouse. The trial court, following an uncontested hearing, declared the requested paternity determination …
Are You My Mother? A Critique Of The Requirements For De Facto Parenthood In Maine Following The Law Court's Decision In Pitts V. Moore, Samuel G. Johnson
Are You My Mother? A Critique Of The Requirements For De Facto Parenthood In Maine Following The Law Court's Decision In Pitts V. Moore, Samuel G. Johnson
Maine Law Review
Are you my mother? The answer to this question may not have been very difficult to ascertain years ago, however it is not so easily answered today. With advancements in technology, shifts in family structures, and changes in social norms, new legal issues pertaining to parental rights have materialized. The right to raise a child as one sees fit is one of the oldest fundamental rights recognized and protected by the United States Constitution. However, courts are now being asked to consider the rights of “legal strangers” at the expense of the biological or legal parent. One method that a …
Inconvenient Truths: Facts And Frictions In Defense Of Guardians Ad Litem For Children, Dana E. Prescott
Inconvenient Truths: Facts And Frictions In Defense Of Guardians Ad Litem For Children, Dana E. Prescott
Maine Law Review
During the 2013 Maine legislative session, citizens, elected officials, and professionals passionately expressed their beliefs concerning the legitimacy and efficacy of guardian ad litem [GAL] appointments in private child custody cases. In many respects, this policy discussion mirrored national trends in the scholarly and social science literature concerning allegations of the overuse or capacious role of a GAL. Establishing the proper legal and scientific contours within which GALs may serve the best interests of children and simultaneously provide constructive investigative and evidence-informed recommendations to judicial fact finding remains a proper concern for proponents and critics alike. The challenge, in this …
From Orphans To Families In Crisis: Parental Rights Matters In Maine Probate Courts, Deirdre M. Smith
From Orphans To Families In Crisis: Parental Rights Matters In Maine Probate Courts, Deirdre M. Smith
Maine Law Review
This Article examines the sources of the contemporary problems associated with the adjudication of parental rights matters in Maine's probate courts and identifies specific reforms to address both the structural and substantive law problems. The Article first reviews the development of Maine's probate courts and their jurisdiction over parental rights matters. It traces the expansion of jurisdiction over children and families from a limited role incidental to the administration of a decedent's estate to the current scope—a range of matters that may result in the limitation, suspension, or termination of the rights of living parents. Maine's probate courts not adjudicate …