Law Commons^™

The Peculiar Federal Marriage Amendment, Scott Dodson

Faculty Publications

In this essay, I discuss the Constitution's commitment to three themes - state power over familial matters, individual liberty, and equality - and then demonstrate how the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment is uniquely contrary to all three. I do not intend to go so far as to suggest that the FMA would be an unconstitutional amendment, if such things are possible, nor do I mean to suggest that same-sex marriage is or should be affirmatively protected by the Constitution. I mean only to suggest that proposed amendments altering the Constitution's commitment to multiple existing themes in the Constitution should be …

Estate Planning Expert Forward, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Other Publications

There is no doubt that a self-help book devoted to financial and estate planning is of much interest to remarried partners, but can such a book be interesting? Jon Fitzpatrick has made his book interesting. This is no ordinary non-fiction book Jon has come up with a unique way of presenting his material: as fiction. The setting for his novel is an adult course conducted at night in a local high school. His players are a couple of lawyers who teach the course and the students in the class. Each chapter addresses the classroom topic for that evening. The dialogue …

Mistaking Marriage For Social Policy, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the role of marriage in society, focusing on the state's use of marriage as a proxy for desirable outcomes in social policy. Its analytical point of departure is the normative vision of modern marriage embraced by many of its proponents. From there, the idealized marriage is analyzed, not as a monolithic, opaque institution, but as one whose functional components may be identified and examined. The Article identifies the following as the primary functions of the normative marital family: expression; companionship; sex/procreation; caretaking; and economic support or redistribution. Analyzing the roles in society of each of these functions, …

Progress And Progression In Family Law, Martha Albertson Fineman

Faculty Articles

The process and nature of change in our family formation seems unlikely to be derailed. The policy question for those concerned with the institution of the family in today's world should not be how we can resuscitate marriage and thus save society, but rather how we can support all individuals who create intimate, caring relationships, regardless of the form of those relationships. Continued inattention to the social and economic dislocations and the emerging family needs produced in the wake of changes in family formation can be disastrous, not only to individual families, but also to society.

Of particular importance for …

The Constitution Should Protect The Right To Same-Sex Marriage, Robert A. Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

One Flesh, Two Taxpayers: A New Approach To Marriage And Wealth Transfer Taxation, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article critically examines the estate and gift tax rules currently applicable to martial wealth transfers and proposes a new system in which all transfers between spouses will be subject to taxation. The article begins by tracing the historic development of what the author calls the "one flesh, one taxpayer" approach to wealth transfer taxation. Over a period of more than thirty years, the marital deduction evolved from a tool for achieving geographic uniformity into an institution based on an unreal and idealized story of proper gender roles and the economic significance of marriage. After describing the wealth transfer tax …

Traditional Marriage: Still Worth Defending, George W. Dent

Faculty Publications

A few years ago, I wrote an article entitled The Defense of Traditional Marriage.1 I began with the topic of same-sex marriage but soon saw that all the arguments for gay marriage were also arguments for polygamy, endogamy (or incestuous marriage), etc., so the article became a defense of traditional marriage against all these other types. The pertinent law and jurisprudence are constantly changing, so this conference offers an excellent opportunity to reconsider my views in light of new learning and thinking. A review shows the case for traditional marriage is even stronger now than it was before. As evidence …

Marry Me, Bill: Should Cohabitation Be The (Legal) Default Option?, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven L. Nock

Journal Articles

Are cohabitation and marriage similar enough to warrant similar legal treatment? Earlier public reports on cohabitation have focused on the question of whether cohabitation before marriage increases or decreases the divorce rate.

But increasingly cohabitation is being proposed not as a testing ground for marriage, but as a functional substitute for it. The trend in family law and scholarship in Europe and Canada is to treat married and cohabiting couples similarly, or even identically.

In this country, the American Law Institute [ALl] recently proposed that, at least when it comes to the law of dissolution, couples who have been living …

Fear And Loathing In Massachusetts: Same-Sex Marriage And Some Lessons From The History Of Marriage And Divorce, Joanna L. Grossman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

When Massachusetts became the first and only state in the union to issue legal marriage licenses to same-sex couples last May, the state's Governor, Mitt Romney, warned that "Massachusetts should not become the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage." Romney's warning makes sense only as a reference to Las Vegas' reputation for the "quickie" divorce - a heavily disparaged historical practice in which residents of other states would seek a divorce in Nevada because their home states would not grant them one, at least not on the terms or at the pace they desired. This essay retraces the history of divorce …