Family Law Commons^™

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Family Law, Elizabeth P. Coughter, Ronald R. Tweel

University of Richmond Law Review

The most significant case decisions regarding family law issues in Virginia this year are those cases involving the preemptive effect of federal law on equitable distribution issues. These cases held that federal law preempts state law when beneficiary provisions of certain insurance policies and retirement plans are being determined. Other important decisions struck down the self-executing provisions of property settlement agreements regarding the payment of child support. Additionally, a decision by the Court of Appeals of Virginia would have abrogated all property settlement agreements endorsed prior to 1998 were it not for a subsequent statutory modification.

The Ali Principles: A Farewell To Fault--But What Remedy For The Egregious Marital Misconduct Of An Abusive Spouse, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The fundamental premise of this commentary is that the ALl has erred in not including appropriate nonfinancial fault-based factors in the Principles for three major reasons: 1) other no-fault laws, including no-fault automobile insurance law, no-fault workers compensation law, and strict liability in tort law, have all incorporated a number of fault-based exceptions to their general no-fault framework for serious or egregious conduct, and American divorce law should likewise have a similar fault-based exception for serious or egregious marital misconduct; 2) a substantial number of states continue to recognize and utilize a number of fault-based statutory factors in divorce for …

Family Development Deductions - An Alternative To Repealing The Estate Tax, Richard J. Kovach

University of Richmond Law Review

Opposing political and social interests have long conducted a vigorous debate on whether gratuitous transfers of wealth should invoke federal excise taxes. Attempts to eliminate wealth transfer taxes reached a peak in the summer of 2000, when the Senate passed repeal legislation overwhelmingly approved by the House of Representatives. Those supporting repeal point out that wealth transfer taxation discourages work and savings while encouraging consumption. They further assert that transfer taxation revenue does not constitute a very significant portion of total federal revenue. The supporters of repeal also emphasize how the complexity of these taxes has created a parasitic service …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Domestic Relations, Melissa J. Roberts

University of Richmond Law Review

Several significant developments in the area of domestic relations law took place in the past year. This article summarizes the key judicial decisions and legislative enactments pertaining to child support, child custody and visitation, marriage and divorce, spousal support, equitable distribution (including property classification and valuation) property settlement agreements, adoption, domestic violence, jurisdiction, and procedure that occurred from June 1, 1998 through May 15, 1999.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Reform Of Adult Guardianship Law, John E. Donaldson

University of Richmond Law Review

The past two years have been especially significant for those subject to or involved in Virginia's system for providing court-appointed fiduciaries for incapacitated adults. Major legislation enacted in the 1997 Session of the Virginia General Assembly substantially reformed, clarified and restated the statutory system. Generally, the 1997 legislation became effective January 1, 1998. Further changes and refinements were made in the 1998 Session. The new system is more rational, coherent, unified and sensitive to the needs and rights of incapacitated adults than the system it replaces.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Domestic Relations, Lynne Marie Kohm

University of Richmond Law Review

Within the past year, there have been changes of formidable importance in many major areas of domestic relations, both nationally and in Virginia. This article will review the major judicial and legislative developments in family law in Virginia in the context of national domestic relations law, with an eye toward trends in Virginia.

Child Care, Welfare Reform, And Taxes, Mary L. Heen

Law Faculty Publications

The welfare reform legislation passed by Congress last year makes significant changes in the social welfare system, followed this year by contrasting shifts in the. federal tax system's treatment of families with children. This article discusses how the. welfare and tax law changes affect overall child care policy and funding levels for work-related child care, and evaluates the newly enacted child tax credit and the existing child care tax credit in light of their combined effects on low income working families.

At The Intersection Of Bankruptcy And Divorce: Property Division Debts Under The Bankruptcy Reform Act Of 1994, Meredith Johnson Harbach

Law Faculty Publications

Bankruptcy has long had unique implications for divorce settlements and debts between ex-spouses. Historically, some marital debts owed from one ex-spouse to another were excepted from the traditional policy of "discharge. " Bankruptcy law distinguished between debts in the nature of alimony, maintenance, and support, which were protected from discharge, and property division debts, which were not. This distinction often had harsh consequences for creditor ex-spouses. Reeently, Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, in part to ameliorate this problem. The amended Bankruptcy Code providP..s better protection for some property division debts. In this Note, Ms. Johnson argues that …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Domestic Relations, Deanna D. Cook, Player B. Michelsen

University of Richmond Law Review

The General Assembly did not take any action regarding the Family Court issue in 1997. In 1996, funding for the family court was delayed until June 1, 1998, subject to state funds being "sufficient to provide adequate resources ... for the court to carry out the purposes of [Virginia Code section 20-96] and to fulfill its mission to serve children and families of the Commonwealth."

Reassessing Fault Factors In No-Fault Divorce, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is not to "turn back the clock" through the rehabilitation of fault grounds as the sole means for securing a divorce in America. Rather, this article will explore the ways in which fault-based factors, when applied to serious or egregious marital misconduct that significantly contributes to the marital breakdown, may still be utilized in order to bring about enhanced social, economic, and legal protection to spouses on divorce, while concurrently establishing a greater sense of responsibility and accountability in marital relationships.

Welfare Reform, The Child Care Dilemma, And The Tax Code: Family Values, The Wage Labor Market, And The Race-And-Class-Based Double Standard, Mary L. Heen

Law Faculty Publications

In the winter of 1996, Steve Forbes--publisher, heir, and presidential candidate--captured the American imagination with his proposal for a flat tax. But while Mr. Forbes claimed that such a tax would level the economic playing field by eliminating countless loopholes and miles of red tape, his actual proposal betrayed such claims to fairness by overtaxing workers and undertaxing financial capital.

In the face of recent proposals for dramatic and far-reaching tax reform, Taxing America takes a critical look at the way the federal government collects its revenue and exposes the bias at the heart of a system which claims to …

Bottoms V. Bottoms: In Whose Best Interest? Analysis Of A Lesbian Mother Child Custody Dispute, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

This Article traces and analyzes the series of legal and factual events leading up to the Virginia Supreme Court's contradictory and controversial decision in Bottoms v. Bottoms.

Accommodating Spouses: Regulation B And Revised Article 3- The Suretyship Law Complication, Sarah Howard Jenkins

University of Richmond Law Review

Congress enacted the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in 1974 to insure fairness and impartiality in the extension of credit. Congress found that economic stability and competition among financial institutions would be enhanced if credit decisions were made without discrimination on the basis of sex or marital status. The Act and its implementing regulation, Regulation B, were designed "to promote the availability of credit for all creditworthy applicants without regard to... marital status" and to prohibit practices that discriminate on that basis. Later, the scope of the Act was extended to include other classes of discrimination such as race, color, religion, …

The Parental Tort Immunity Doctrine: Is It A Defensible Defense?, Sandra L. Haley

University of Richmond Law Review

If the overriding purpose of tort law is to compensate those injured by the wrongdoing of another, then intrafamily tort immunities have historically defeated that purpose. Their effect is to leave an uncompensated injured party with no remedy simply by virtue of the tortfeasor's familial relationship to the injured person. This survey focuses on the doctrine of parental tort immunity and concludes that, although numerous exceptions exist, the rationales advanced for the doctrine's continued existence are of questionable relevance today.

Fault: A Viable Means Of Re-Injuecting Responsibility In Marital Relations, Adriaen M. Morse Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The era of marital fault being the only grounds for divorce in the United States has passed, and its passing brings few tears to the eyes of most. As evidenced by the passage above, the airing of marital fault in open court, even in the days when such practices were the norm, at times shocked the sensibilities and conscience of those who had to listen to the evidence and then issue decisions based upon it.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Domestic Relations, Katharine Salmon Cary, Mary Kathryn Hart

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews some of the important developments in the area of domestic relations law between May 1995 and July 1996. Of particular significance were opinions by the Court of Appeals of Virginia regarding issues of imputed income, the definition of a "day" for shared custody purposes, and the role of marital fault in equitable distribution determinations. The majority of bills passed in the 1996 Session of the General Assembly simply fine-tuned existing law. However, notable statutory revisions were made in the areas of child support and domestic violence. Although the legislature replaced the term "spousal abuse" with "family abuse," …

Choices For A Child: An Ethical And Legal Analysis Of A Failed Surrogate Birth Contract, Adam Marshall

University of Richmond Law Review

In today's world of increasingly sophisticated reproductive technologies which offer once infertile couples the chance to have their own child, one wonders what wisdom King Solomon would provide in a conflict involving a woman hired to bear another couple's child. This paper explores such a situation.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Last-In-Time Marriage Presumption, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The typical scenario for the last-in-time marriage presumption is not as unusual as one might expect: A husband (or wife) has unexpectedly died, and the bereaved surviving spouse is in the process of bringing a legal proceeding that may include a probate action, a wrongful death action, a suit for social security benefits, a workers' compensation action, a life insurance action, or another legal action for related compensatory, probate, or insurance benefits. However, during the pendency of these actions a former wife comes forward, claiming that she has never been divorced from her deceased spouse and that she, rather than …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Domestic Relations, Deanna D. Cook

University of Richmond Law Review

It is well known that non-conforming payments or overpayment of support will not entitle a payor spouse to future credit against his obligations. This continues to be the rule in Virginia. In the case of Sanford v. Sanford, the Virginia Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's decision to credit excess spousal support payments made by the husband against his future obligations. The husband agreed to pay spousal support pursuant to a property settlement agreement, which was incorporated into the parties' final divorce decree. The husband was then terminated by his employer, but he received one year severance pay. Based …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marriage And Divorce: Legal Foundations, Azizah Y. Al-Hibri

Law Faculty Publications

This unique reference is a comprehensive encyclopedia dedicated to the institutions, religion, politics, and culture in Muslim societies throughout the world. Placing particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World contains over 750 articles in four volumes on Muslims in the Arab heartland as well as South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

An invaluable resource, the Encyclopedia offers extensive comparative and systematic analyses of Islamic beliefs, institutions, movements, practices, and peoples on an international scale. The alphabetically arranged articles range from brief 500-word essays to major interpretive and synthetic treatment …

Proving The Validity Of Marriage, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The importance of proving the validity of a marriage is not limited to the practice of family and has far-reaching social, legal, and economic implications in other areas of the law as well. For example, wrongful death statutes in Virginia limit recovery of a statutory beneficiary to the legal spouse rather than the de facto spouse. Other areas of the law including intestate succession and probate law, real property law, Social Security benefits, worker's compensation statutes, insurance benefits, and spousal support rights are likewise directly affected by the validity of a marriage.

Thus, a Virginia practitioner, during the course of …

Nondivorce Support And Property Rights, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Domestic Relations, Ronald S. Evans, Deanna D. Cook

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1993 Virginia General Assembly enacted two bills to implement the Judicial Council's report to the Governor and General Assembly recommending the creation of a Family Court in Virginia. The Family Court was to be in effect January 1, 1995, provided that the 1994 legislative session passed the necessary funding and appropriation bills. The 1994 Session did not allocate funds; however, rather than allowing the Family Court project to lapse by inaction, the legislature delayed implementation of the court until July 1, 1996.

Child Custody Modification Based On A Parents Non-Marital Cohabitation: Protecting The Best Interests Of The Child In Virginia, Katherine A. Salmon

University of Richmond Law Review

In recent years, courts have been faced with deciding what constitutes "parental fitness" for custody purposes in light of society's changing mores and values. In attempting to define the role that a parent's sexual lifestyle plays in a custody or visitation dispute, courts across the country have lost sight of their ultimate responsibility - to protect the best interests of the child. Instead, courts often seem more concerned with protecting the sexual freedom of unmarried parents than in contemplating the impact cohabitation may have on children. The Court of Appeals of Virginia is no exception.