Family Law Commons^™

Proving The Validity Of Marriage, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The importance of proving the validity of a marriage is not limited to the practice of family and has far-reaching social, legal, and economic implications in other areas of the law as well. For example, wrongful death statutes in Virginia limit recovery of a statutory beneficiary to the legal spouse rather than the de facto spouse. Other areas of the law including intestate succession and probate law, real property law, Social Security benefits, worker's compensation statutes, insurance benefits, and spousal support rights are likewise directly affected by the validity of a marriage.

Thus, a Virginia practitioner, during the course of …

Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy: Broadening The Scope Of Child Abuse, Michael T. Flannery

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Domestic Relations, Barry B. Mcgough

Mercer Law Review

Of the forty-six cases decided during the survey year, fifteen are digested in this Article. Two custody cases are of special importance, one dealing with application of federal law and the other with joint custody. The remaining cases address smaller points across a familiar judicial landscape. This Article also highlights amendments to the child support guidelines.

Abating The Feminization Of Poverty: Changing The Rules Governing Post - Decree Modification Of Child Support Obligations, J. Thomas Oldham

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Providing Justice For Children In Disputed Adoptions: A Feminist Perspective, Meghan S. Skelton

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Legal Protection For Victims Of Domestic Violence: A Guide For The Treating Physician, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Bottoms V. Bottoms: A Comment, Douglas A. Steinberg

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Public Access: Fortifying The Electronic Soapbox, Jason Roberts

Federal Communications Law Journal

Public access, viewed as the voice on cable for those outside the mainstream, has recently been criticized as nothing more than an unregulated channel for objectionable hate speech and indecent programming. When Congress passed the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, cable operators found themselves in the conflicting role of being liable for indecent and obscene programming on public access, while at the same time unable to exercise any editorial control over access content. All sides are now waiting to see if the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will strike down these access rules as …

A Rejoinder, Larry I. Palmer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"Mother," "Parent," And Bias, A. Jasmine Rassam

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

In Re Marriage Of Mcdole: Modifying Child Custody By Ignoring Statutory Grounds, Virginia A. Petersen

Washington Law Review

In In re Marriage of McDole, the Washington Supreme Court upheld the modification of a parenting plan that changed the primary residential parent. By relying in part on the mother's interference with visitation, the court not only undermined the important policy underlying the modification statute of maximizing finality in custody determinations, but it also failed to read the modification statute as a whole. The court also inappropriately relied on the mother's move out of the state and continued conflict between the parents. The court further failed to explicitly explain the legal bases for its decision, providing little guidance for future …

Joint Custody As Norm: Solomon Revisited, Alison Harvison Young

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Most jurisdictions in Canada and the United States have, to a greater or lesser extent, endorsed the notion of joint custody in recent years. The author suggests that-the move toward joint custody has resulted from a combination of two major factors: the notion of parental equality and the application of the best interests of the child test. The growing prominence of equal parental rights has created a strong temptation to approach custody as a Solomonic exercise in dividing the children equally between those with equal rights over them. The indeterminacy of the best interests test may readily encourage custody determinations …

Secondhand Smoke As An Issue In Child Custody/Visitation Disputes, Jeffrey L. Hall

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Batterers Beware: West Virginia Responds To Domestic Violence With The Probable Cause Warrantless Arrest Statute, Toni L. Harvey

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keynote Address To The Symposiuml Defining Families: Gays, Lesbians, And The Meaning Of Family, Beatrice Dohrn

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Defining Marriage And The Family, Herbert W. Titus

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

"Entreat Me Not To Leave Thee": Bottoms V. Bottoms And The Custody Rights Of Gay And Lesbian Parents, Stephen B. Pershing

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Gay And Lesbian Families: Judicial Assumptions, Scientific Realities, David K. Flaks

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Child Abuse: Should You Report It?, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article discusses the options under the Code of Professional Responsibility for a domestic relations attorney who acquires confidential or secret information about child abuse by a client.

Why Canada Has No Family Policy: Lessons From France And Italy, Philip Girard

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This paper uses a comparative legal history approach to examine the "private" law of the family in France, Italy, and the major English-speaking countries in order to clarify the fundamental notions of the family which predated the welfare state. It is suggested that a major cleavage exists, historically, between an autonomous family law in France and Italy oriented around notions of familial solidarity, sibling interdependence and equality, and intergenerational continuity, and a family law in the English-speaking countries marked by a preoccupation with the protection of property rights and the independence of individual family members. These contrasts reveal differing societal …

For The Sake Of The Child: Moving Toward Uniformity In Adoption Law, Marja E. Selmann

Washington Law Review

Adoption is governed by state law, which varies dramatically among states, and thus encourages forum shopping and complicates interstate adoption. A new Uniform Adoption Act (UAA), likely to be completed and approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1994, offers states the opportunity to move toward greater uniformity. The UAA balances all of the participants' interests while keeping the child's best interests foremost.

The Washington State Parenting Act In The Courts: Reconciling Discretion And Justice In Parenting Plan Disputes, Jane W. Ellis

Washington Law Review

On July 8, 1993, the Washington Supreme Court handed down a decision construing the residential provision section of the Washington State Parenting Act. The case is significant for the children of divorcing parents in the State of Washington, and its importance extends beyond Washington because the supreme court's opinion is the first to interpret a key section of a law that has attracted national and international attention The case, In re Marriage ofKovacs, is an example of the sort of egregious injustice that can occur when a trial court fails to exercise its discretion in an appropriate manner and an …

Preserving The Purchasing Power Of Child Support Awards: Can The Use Of Escalator Clauses Be Justified After The Family Support Act?, Sarah K. Funke

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

If Black Is So Special, Then Why Isn't It In The Rainbow?, Sharon E. Rush

UF Law Faculty Publications

In the modern day, defining "family" becomes less of a theoretical debate when one's own family unit is different from the traditional married, middle-class mother and father with their biological children. For non-traditional families, redefining family takes on enormous practical significance and may actually enable people to create families. Laws permitting transracial adoptions and surrogacy are illustrative. Moreover, a broader definition of family provides greater legal security to non-traditional families. Without such legal protection, non-traditional families live in fear of traditional laws tearing them apart. Rather than using a standard that promotes hegemony in custody disputes, decisionmakers should become aware …

Divorce, Custody, Gender, And The Limits Of Law: On Dividing The Child, Lee E. Teitelbaum

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Dividing the Child: Social and Legal Dilemmas of Custody by Elanor E. Maccoby and Robert H. Mnookin

Severing Hansel From Gretel: An Analysis Of Siblings' Association Rights, William Wesley Patton, Dr. Sarah Latz

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marriage, Morals, And The Law: No-Fault Divorce And Moral Discourse, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

In this Essay, I want to reflect on no fault-divorce and the social attitudes that underlie it. In particular, I want to consider that reform in light of an article I wrote some years ago entitled Moral Discourse and the Transformation of American Family Law. There I argued that in recent years the language of American family law has changed notably: today family law issues are decreasingly discussed in the language of morality. In other words, legal institutions have decreasingly talked about those issues in moral terms. Rather, they have tended to avoid handling some moral issues altogether-often by …

"Running Hard To Stand Still": The Paradox Of Family Law Reform, Mary Jane Mossman

Dalhousie Law Journal

This essay explores the paradox of family law reform in common law Canada, focusing particularly on reforms relating to family property and inter-spousal support in the decades after the first federal Divorce Act of 1968. The paradox of this law reform activity is well-expressed in Carol Smart's colourful phrase about the (lack of) impact of law reform for women in the United Kingdom. In her view, while it is inaccurate to say that nothing has been done to improve the position of women, it is equally impossible to demonstrate that there has been any linear development of progressive legislation; in …

Mandatory Reporting Of Wife Assault By Health Care Professionals, Diana Ginn

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article examines the issue of mandatory reporting of wife assault' by health care professionals. Should a health care professional who believes that a patient is being abused by her partner have a legal duty to report that belief, and the information on which it is based, to a designated government ministry or department?2 Such reporting is already required for cases of suspected child abuse and, in one province, for suspected abuse of adults who are mentally or physically unable to protect themselves from the abuse.

The District Of Columbia Medical Consent Law: Moving Towards Legal Recognition Of Kinship Caregiving, Randi S. Mandelbaum, Susan L. Waysdorf

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

In 1990, in the District of Columbia, over 27,000 children under the age of eighteen, or 23.4% of all children, were living in the care of an adult other than their parent or a foster parent.3 This was a thirty percent increase from the 1980 data for the District of Columbia.4 Nationally, over the past decade, these figures increased sixteen percent.0 Today, for adult relatives, primarily grandmothers, aunts, and close family friends, who step in to raise the children of their relatives or friends, private kinship caregiving is both a legacy and a matter of survival for the next generation.'