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Social Science And Legal Policy: The Case Of Heterosexual Cohabitation, Cynthia Grant Bowman
Social Science And Legal Policy: The Case Of Heterosexual Cohabitation, Cynthia Grant Bowman
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
The rate at which people live together in unmarried unions has increased enormously in recent decades, making this one of the remarkable social changes of our era. The response to this change in the law review literature has been inadequate. Recent articles about cohabitation have argued simply that the institution of marriage is better than cohabitation for both the couple and their children, and the law should therefore be structured so as to discourage this conduct, because to give legal protections to cohabitants will harm the institution of marriage. This article explores the findings of social scientists about cohabitation and …
Legal Treatment Of Cohabitation In The United States, Cynthia Grant Bowman
Legal Treatment Of Cohabitation In The United States, Cynthia Grant Bowman
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
This article discusses the variety of ways state legal systems in the United States treat cohabitation, both by same-sex and heterosexual couples. The different approaches are described along a spectrum that ranges from one extreme, under which cohabitants have essentially no rights against one another or against third parties, to the other extreme, under which cohabitants are to be treated as though they were married under state law. Different areas of law are discussed, including the rights of cohabitants both against one another (remedies upon dissolution, inheritance) and against third parties, such as state benefits, tort claims, health-related benefits, and …