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Money, Caregiving, And Kinship: Should Paid Caregivers Be Allowed To Obtain De Facto Parental Status, Pamela Loufer-Ukeles

Missouri Law Review

The law of custody and visitation is expanding to include the possibility of non-biological and non-adoptive parents' legal access to children. The concept of the psychological parent or functional caretaker is becoming increasingly prevalent and influential in state law. Moreover, the ALI Principles of Family Dissolution include two categories of psychological parents - parents by estoppel and de facto parents - in its proposed guidelines for who can petition for custody and visitation rights to children. Yet, both state law and the ALl Principles exclude caretakers who receive compensation - including foster parents, paid child care providers and surrogate mothers …