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Full-Text Articles in Law
Institutionalized Silence: The Problem Of Child Voicelessness In Divorce Proceedings, Brandon Sadowsky
Institutionalized Silence: The Problem Of Child Voicelessness In Divorce Proceedings, Brandon Sadowsky
Brandon Sadowsky
In this paper, I present the current state of child representation in divorce proceedings. I argue that children should be represented in all divorce proceedings. I then consider the best interest and client-directed models of child representation and argue that each model is supported by important intuitions: paternalism and autonomy, respectively. I try to formulate a hybrid model that satisfies both of these intuitions.
Penalty Defaults In Family Law: The Case Of Child Custody, Margaret F. Brinig
Penalty Defaults In Family Law: The Case Of Child Custody, Margaret F. Brinig
Margaret F Brinig
This paper considers whether an amendment to state divorce laws that strengthens its joint custody preference operates as a traditional default rule, specifying what most divorcing couples would choose or as a penalty default rule the parties will attempt to contract around.
While the Oregon statutes that frame our discussion here, like most state laws, do not state an explicit preference for joint custody, shared custody is certainly encouraged by Section 107.179, which refers cases in which the parties cannot agree on joint custody to mediation and by Section 107.105, which requires the court to consider awarding custody jointly. In …
Unhappy Contracts: The Case Of Divorce Settlements, Margaret F. Brinig
Unhappy Contracts: The Case Of Divorce Settlements, Margaret F. Brinig
Margaret F Brinig
This paper examines a particular type of contracts that is, sadly, increasingly frequent: the agreements produced by divorcing couples. They are unhappy contracts, agreements produced as a necessary part of exit from what is now suboptimal marriage. They are virtually required by many states and are, in theory at least, closely monitored by courts since, when children are involved, they will be incorporated into court orders.What parties to unhappy contracts do is attempt to minimize losses, rather than maximize gain. How are contracts structured that will do this, and how does a difference in the size or power of the …
No-Fault Laws And At-Fault People, Margaret F. Brinig, F. H. Buckley
No-Fault Laws And At-Fault People, Margaret F. Brinig, F. H. Buckley
Margaret F Brinig
Absent transaction costs, the Coase Theorem suggests that divorce reform would work no change in the frequency of divorce but perhaps would alter the distribution of marital wealth. However, divorce does involve substantial process costs, which no-fault lowered. This paper explores the question of what happened to state divorce rates because of the legal changes wrought by the family law revolution that began in the 1970s, isolating the effect of the legal variable from other demographic and social factors that might also explain the variation in divorce rates across states and across time.
Property Distribution Physics: The Talisman Of Time And Middle Class Law, Margaret F. Brinig
Property Distribution Physics: The Talisman Of Time And Middle Class Law, Margaret F. Brinig
Margaret F Brinig
No abstract provided.
Feminism And Child Custody Under Chapter Two Of The American Law Institute's Principles Of The Law Of Family Dissolution, Margaret F. Brinig
Feminism And Child Custody Under Chapter Two Of The American Law Institute's Principles Of The Law Of Family Dissolution, Margaret F. Brinig
Margaret F Brinig
No abstract provided.
Child Support Guidelines: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Margaret F. Brinig, Douglas W. Allen
Child Support Guidelines: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Margaret F. Brinig, Douglas W. Allen
Margaret F Brinig
Child support guideline systems do more than simply determine the amount of income to be transferred from the noncustodial to the custodial household. They create incentives, one way or another, for spouses to divorce and seek custody and support payments. We examine three cases found in North America, and find that the common method of income shares provides a decent guideline that does not create any perverse incentives for divorce. Percentage-of-obligor-income methods do worse than other systems, and can cause increases in divorce rates for families in which one spouse earns a high income. Finally, the Canadian system, which is …
Trading At Divorce: Preferences, Legal Rules And Transactions Costs, Margaret F. Brinig, Michael V. Alexeev
Trading At Divorce: Preferences, Legal Rules And Transactions Costs, Margaret F. Brinig, Michael V. Alexeev
Margaret F Brinig
No abstract provided.
Belonging And Trust: Divorce And Social Capital, Margaret F. Brinig
Belonging And Trust: Divorce And Social Capital, Margaret F. Brinig
Margaret F Brinig
To whom do spouses belong? Do they belong to their communities as well as each other and their immediate families? These questions are explored in an empirical paper demonstrating ways in which social capital in communities may affect even the marriages of people living in them.
The Role Of Socioeconomics In Teaching Family Law, Margaret F. Brinig
The Role Of Socioeconomics In Teaching Family Law, Margaret F. Brinig
Margaret F Brinig
No abstract provided.
Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Best-Interests Standard: The Close Connection Between Substance And Process In Resolving Divorce-Related Parenting Disputes, Jana B. Singer
Jana B. Singer
This essay, written for a Symposium celebrating the child custody scholarship of Professor Robert Mnookin, examines the close connection between changes in substantive child custody doctrine and changes in custody dispute resolution processes over the past 30 years. Part I of the article explores how the widespread adoption of an unmediated “best interest of the child” standard, and the ensuing rejection of the sole custody paradigm, precipitated a shift from adversarial to non-adversarial resolution of divorce-related parenting disputes. Part II of the essay reverses the direction of the analytic lens and considers how the shift from adversarial to non-adversarial dispute …
Privatizing Family Law In The Name Of Religion, Robin Fretwell Wilson
Privatizing Family Law In The Name Of Religion, Robin Fretwell Wilson
Robin Fretwell Wilson
No abstract provided.