Law Commons^™

Incompetence To Maintain A Divorce Action: When Breaking Up Is Odd To Do, Douglas Mossman, Amanda N. Shoemaker

Douglas Mossman

The law has well-established provisions for handling divorce actions initiated on behalf of persons already adjudged incompetent or by competent individuals against incompetent spouses. But how should a court respond if a mentally ill petitioner who is competent to manage most personal affairs seeks to divorce a spouse for bizarre, very odd, or crazy-sounding reasons? Whether to allow a divorce action when the petitioner is motivated by psychotic ideas about a spouse is a matter addressed in just a few published cases, and then only indirectly. Largely unanswered are questions about whether domestic relations courts have the authority to stop …

You Take The Embryos But I Get The House (And The Business): Recent Trends In Awards Involving Embryos Upon Divorce, Mark Strasser

Mark Strasser

Various state courts have been asked to decide who should have control of remaining frozen embryos upon divorce. Different models have been proposed, ranging from enforcement of prior agreements to balancing the needs and desires of the parties to requiring both parties to agree before implantation can take place. This article discusses some of these models, concluding both that the enforcement of the initial agreement model is preferable to the others proposed and that one of the most popular current models--the contemporaneous consent model—is a public policy disaster that should be repudiated at the earliest opportunity.

The Pursuit Of Life, Liberty, Happiness…And Fairness? Property Division In American And English Big Money Divorce Cases, Margaret Ryznar

Margaret Ryznar

Eyebrows have recently arched not only at the high sums involved in big money divorce cases, but also at the amount of ink spilled on this relatively small subset of divorce cases. Yet, it is precisely in big money cases that fairness acquires substantial haziness. Is it fair for a high-wage earner to pay an ex-spouse half of his future profits? Or, would it be fairer for the ex-spouse to be awarded less than half, but still receive millions of dollars? Such questions are particularly acute in short marriages or when one spouse is at fault for the divorce. Courts …

The Slip And Fall Of The California Legislature In The Classification Of Personal Injury Damages At Divorce And Death, Helen Y. Chang

Helen Y Chang

This article critiques California’s classification and treatment of personal injury damages at divorce and death. Of the nine community property states, California is the only state not to follow a replacement or analytic approach in classifying personal injury damages. Since the current statute was enacted in 1968, California has seen important developments in no-fault divorce reform, the rise of women’s rights, and tort law but California has failed to update its mechanistic formula for personal injury damages in the marital property context.

California’s present rule classifies personal injury damages as community property during marriage but awards the monies to the …