Law Commons^™

California's Move-Away Law: Are Children Being Hurt By Judicial Presumptions That Sweep Too Broadly?, Jennifer Gould

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment will summarize the various types of custody situations and their relevance in deciding move-away cases. Next, this Comment will examine In re Marriage of Burgess, a landmark California Supreme Court move-away case, and discuss its impact on family law courts, families, and attorneys involved with move-away cases. Included is an examination of certain factors that the Burgess court did not fully address in its analysis. Finally, drawing upon public policy, social science research, legal commentary, and other jurisdictions' moveaway laws, this Comment will propose a more comprehensive approach to deciding move-away cases. This approach limits the application of …

Redefining Parenthood: Child Custody And Visitation When Nontraditional Families Dissolve, Kristine L. Burks

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article offers a method of providing custody and visitation rights to individuals formerly involved in nontraditional relationships who function as children's parents but who lack the legal status of parent. The article considers a broad range of nontraditional families, including stepparents, same-sex partners, and unmarried heterosexuals. The article begins with a summary of California statutory law. The author examines how "parent" is defined and the limitations imposed on those falling outside that definition when they seek to assert rights to child custody and visitation. Next, the article focuses on three types of nontraditional relationships to illustrate how California courts …

Frozen Embryos: New Technology Meets Family Law, Natalie K. Young

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article addresses the various reasons and legal arguments for treating embryos as life, or in the alternative as property. In particular, this article analyzes the legal status of frozen embryos in a marital dissolution proceeding from a custodial point of view and a marital property point of view. Part I sets forth a broad policy perspective on the doctrinal choices that must be made in determining the legal status of the embryo. Part II first explores the possibility of classifying frozen embryos as human life and then presents a legal analysis, derived from the general principles of family law, …

Child Sexual Abuse In Custody And Visitation Disputes: Problems, Progress, And Prospects, Susan Romer

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment will focus on cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse made during divorce proceedings or during post-judgment custody and visitation disputes. California law is the primary focus. New York cases, statutes and procedures are compared and contrasted. The Comment first discusses studies of the veracity of allegations of sexual abuse arising in custody and visitation cases. Secondly, it addresses the methods used in the investigation and assessment of child sexual abuse charges. Finally, it explores which court is best able to decide these cases.

The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act: How Can Non-Marital Children Be Protected?, Nancy S. Erickson

Golden Gate University Law Review

Parental kidnapping has been called "one of the most subtle and brutal forms of child abuse." In response to the seriousness of the problem of childsnatching and its increasing incidence in this country, steps have been taken on both state and federal levels. The UCCJA was approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and by the American Bar Association in 1968. By 1984 it had been enacted in all states and the Virgin Islands. Virtually all states have also enacted criminal parental kidnapping statutes. In 1980, Congress passed the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA), which not …

The Nonmarital Sexual Conduct Of Custodial Mothers: A Study Of California's Precarious Parental Rights, Barbara Child

Golden Gate University Law Review

Mothers of minor children engage in sexual conduct with men to whom they are not married. That is no longer a shocking truth. Nonetheless, those mothers continue to live with a Damocles sword hanging over their heads. Their sexual conduct can still cause them to lose their children, even in these supposedly liberated times in the state of California. This Article surveys the cases in which the most commonly used ambiguous statutes together with secure judicial discretion have been brought to bear on custodial mothers who either by choice or by economic necessity do not live conventional middleclass lives. The …

The Lesbian Family: Rights In Conflict Under The California Uniform Parentage Act, Stuart A. Sutton

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lesbian Mother: Her Right To Child Custody, Benna F. Armanno

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Failure To Protect From Domestic Violence In Private Custody Contests, Leslie J. Harris

Leslie J. Harris

All 50 states and the District of Columbia require courts to consider domestic violence committed by one parent against the other in resolving a custody or visitation dispute between the parents. A significant number of states also have statutes or case law that requires courts to consider the occurrence of violence in a child’s household or proposed household in resolving such disputes, regardless of who commits the violence or at whom it is directed. This kind of law may be used against a parent, often a victim, who fails to protect a child from being exposed to the violence. This …

It's The Hard Luck Life: Women's Moral Luck And Eucatastrophe In Child Custody Allocation, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

No abstract provided.

Child Custody Modification Law: The Never-Ending Battle For Peace Of Mind, Brianna F. Isserdutt

Nevada Law Journal

Ellis v. Carucci represents an evolution in Nevada’s child custody laws that should continue. Before Ellis, Nevada courts modified custody arrangements without explicitly considering the best interests of the child. Ellis cemented the legislative intent behind Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) § 125.4803 to make the child’s best interest the focus of the judge’s decision in custody cases.

However, Ellis and NRS §125.480 are not enough to accomplish this overarching goal. The Nevada legislature should revise NRS § 125.480 so that the statute explicitly recognizes the instability and adjustments that children of divorce must endure. The statute should also be revised …

A Hidden Crisis: The Need To Strengthen Representation Of Parents In Child Protective Proceedings, Vivek Sankaran

Articles

A national consensus is emerging that zealous legal representation of parents is crucial in ensuring that the child welfare system produces just outcomes for children. National groups, inclucing the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, and the National Association of Counsel for Children, have been outspoken on the need to strengthen legal advocacy on behalf of parents, and a number of states-including Colorado, Connecticut,' and Washington7 have initiated efforts to comprehensively reform their systems of appointing lawyers for indigent parents to better serve families. A national movement is afoot …