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Full-Text Articles in Law

Religion And Child Custody, Margaret Brinig Oct 2016

Religion And Child Custody, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This piece draws upon divorce pleadings and other records to show how indications of religion (or disaffiliation) that appear in custody agreements and orders (called “parenting plans” in both states studied) affect the course of the proceedings and legal activities over the five years following divorce filing. Some of the apparent findings are normative, but most are merely descriptive and some may be correlative rather than caused by the indicated concern about religion. While parenting plans are accepted by courts only when they are in the best interests of the child (at least in theory), the child’s independent religious needs …


Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret Brinig Oct 2016

Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

To the extent that family law is governed by statute, all families are treated as though they are the same. This is of course consistent with the equal protection guarantees of the US Constitution as well as those of the states. However, in our pluralistic society, all families are not alike. At birth, some children are born to wealthy, married parents who will always put the children’s interests first and will never engage in domestic violence. Many laws benefit these children, while, according to some academics, they either further disadvantage other children or at best ignore their needs.

This presentation …


Joint Custody: Bonding And Monitoring Theories, Margaret F. Brinig, F. H. Buckley Sep 2016

Joint Custody: Bonding And Monitoring Theories, Margaret F. Brinig, F. H. Buckley

Margaret F Brinig

Symposium: Law and the New American Family Held at Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington Apr. 4, 1997


Does Parental Autonomy Require Equal Custody At Divorce?, Margaret F. Brinig Sep 2016

Does Parental Autonomy Require Equal Custody At Divorce?, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This paper considers the affect of amendments to state divorce laws that strengthen their joint custody preference. It does so in the context of suits by noncustodial parents challenging substantive custody standards not requiring equal custody at divorce. The complaint is that most custody laws, by using a best interests standard rather than equally dividing custodial time, violate substantive due process. Further, two states, Iowa and Maine, have recently amended their custody legislation to strongly presume joint physical custody.

After setting out the constitutional problem and describing the legislation in some detail, this paper tests the effects of the change …


Marry Me, Bill: Should Cohabitation Be The (Legal) Default Option?, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven L. Nock Sep 2016

Marry Me, Bill: Should Cohabitation Be The (Legal) Default Option?, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven L. Nock

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.


The One-Size-Fits-All Family, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven L. Nock Sep 2016

The One-Size-Fits-All Family, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven L. Nock

Margaret F Brinig

Family policy and the law based on it assume universals. That is, if marriage improves the welfare of the majority of couples and their children, it is worth pushing as a policy initiative. Further, laws will be written (or kept on the books) that privilege marriage over other family forms. Similarly, research that tells us that divorce harms children except following the relatively small number of highly conflicted marriages, spawns efforts to preserve troubled marriages or even to roll back liberal or relatively inexpensive divorce laws. With yet another example, since adopted children mostly do better than children left either …


Does Mediation Systematically Disadvantage Women?, Margaret F. Brinig Sep 2016

Does Mediation Systematically Disadvantage Women?, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.


Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret F. Brinig Aug 2016

Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

To the extent that family law is governed by statute, all families are treated as though they are the same. This is of course consistent with the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution as well as those of the states. However, in our pluralistic society, all families are not alike. At birth, some children are born to wealthy, married parents who will always put the children’s interests first and will never engage in domestic violence. Many laws benefit these children, while, according to some academics, they either further disadvantage other children or at best ignore their needs. This Article …