Law Commons^™

Tributes To Family Law Scholars Who Helped Us Find Our Path, Thomas Oldham, Paul M. Kurtz

Scholarly Works

At some point after the virus struck, I had the idea that it would be appropriate and interesting to ask a number of experienced family law teachers to write a tribute about a more senior family law scholar whose work inspired them when they were beginning their careers. I mentioned this idea to some other long-term members of the professoriate, and they agreed that this could be a good project. So I reached out to some colleagues and asked them to participate. Many agreed to join the team. Some suggested other potential contributors, and some of these suggested faculty members …

Criminal Law As Family Law, Andrea L. Dennis

Scholarly Works

The criminal justice system has expanded dramatically over the last several decades, extending its reach into family life. This expansion has disproportionately and negatively impacted Black communities and social networks, including Black families. Despite these pervasive shifts, legal scholars have virtually ignored the intersection of criminal, family, and racial justice. This Article explores the gap in literature in two respects. First, the Article weaves together criminal law, family law, and racial justice by cataloging ways in which the modern criminal justice state regulates family life, particularly for Black families. Second, the Article examines the depth of criminal justice interference in …

Taxing Compensatory Stock Rights Transferred In Divorce, Gregg Polsky, Kathleen Delaney Thomas

Scholarly Works

Stock-based compensation has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. As a result, many high net worth divorces now result in the transfer of compensatory stock rights from the employee spouse to the nonemployee spouse as part of the marital settlement. Despite this growing trend, the tax consequences of these transfers have not yet been explored fully. This Article endeavors to fill this void and explain both the planning opportunities and potential pitfalls in transferring compensatory stock rights in divorce. These transfers can shift ordinary income from a high-bracket spouse to a lower-bracket spouse, creating a tax surplus that enlarges the …

Texas Hold ’Em - The State Refuses To Allow Same-Sex Couples Married Elsewhere To Get Divorced. Is This The Next Constitutional Showdown Over Marriage Equality?, Sonja R. West, Dahlia Lithwick

Popular Media

The court papers don’t tell us all that much about what happened between the couple described only as “J.B.” and “H.B.” We can assume there once was love and then, at some point, there wasn’t. Their parting, we’re told, was amicable. The problem is that J.B. and H.B. are both men. The other problem is that they live in Texas. The two were married in Massachusetts in 2006, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2004. They later moved to Texas, and now want to get divorced. Texas, however, won’t let them. And they cannot get divorced in Massachusetts either, …

What Is Anthony Kennedy Thinking?, Sonja R. West

Popular Media

Supreme Court watchers have long made a national sport out of parsing Justice Anthony Kennedy’s every word. From issues as diverse as the death penalty, terrorism, and gay rights, Kennedy has been the only conservative justice to vote with the court’s more liberal wing. It’s not surprising, therefore, that as we wait for the court’s decision on same-sex marriage bans, the search for clues to Kennedy’s thinking has shifted into high gear.

In March, during the oral argument about California’s same-sex marriage ban, Kennedy said that he was “trying to wrestle” with a “difficult question” about the constitutionality of same-sex …

Why Obama’S Words Didn’T Go Far Enough, Sonja R. West, Dahlia Lithwick

Popular Media

When President Obama announced his support of same-sex marriage, he talked broadly about “equality” and “fairness.” He spoke of “opposing discrimination against gays and lesbians” and making sure that nobody is treated as “less than full citizens when it comes to their legal rights.” It was a powerful moment—historic and emotional. In the Aaron Sorkin version, the orchestra would have soared at this point as the supporting cast members exchanged teary-eyed yet knowing nods.

But then President Obama described how these rights should be protected and the music stopped with a squawk. Same-sex marriage, he said, is not in fact …

Accounting For Time: A Relative-Interest Approach To The Division Of Equity In Hybrid-Property Homes Upon Divorce, Lisa Milot

Scholarly Works

Even in these troubling economic times, homes are the most valuable asset many Americans own. In many instances, these homes were purchased prior to marriage, with later mortgage payments made after the homebuyer married. On divorce, courts must divide the value of such a “hybrid-property” home into “separate” and “marital” shares prior to distributing it between the divorcing spouses.

Many courts have developed formulas for this purpose, with a goal of providing a “proportionate and fair return” on both the separate and marital investments in the home. Each of the formulas, though, ignores the timing of the investments, both in …

Mediation In Domestic Relations In The United States, Asma Saeed Hussain

LLM Theses and Essays

The continuing influence of a myriad of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques has permeated the field of family, and domestic relations law. This thesis reviews mediation as one of the ADR techniques in contrast with traditional court-litigation for divorce, child-custody disputes. The main part of the thesis addresses the weakness and ethical problems of mediation in domestic relations dispute. The thesis concludes with an acknowledgment of the successes of mediation in divorce cases while discussing the importance of the protection of confidential information which parties disclose during the mediation process.

Child-Custody Adjudication - The Twentieth Century Dilemma: Reconciling The Best Interest Of The Child In A Cross-Cultural Setting, Jasmine Rita Renner

LLM Theses and Essays

Child Custody determination in family law is a herculean task. It typically depends on the balancing of interests between two parents that works in tandem with the best interest of the child. This paper addresses the legal and constitutional factors that affect custody adjudication in the 20th century such as feminist jurisprudence, and the growing concept of joint custody with primary caretaker rule. The paper also examines the role and impact of assisted reproductive technology on custody adjudication. Most importantly, the paper focuses on the best interest of the child doctrine under Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on …