Family Law Commons^™

God Bless The Child: Poor Children, Parens Patriae, And A State Obligation To Provide Assistance, Kay P. Kindred

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Unemployment Compensation In A Time Of Increasing Work-Family Conflicts, Martin H. Malin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The demographics of the workplace have changed substantially since the nation's unemployment insurance system was enacted in the 1930s. The number of dual-earner and single-parent families has increased dramatically. Yet, the basic requirements for eligibility for unemployment compensation have not varied much since their initial enactment. In this Article, Professor Malin explores the availability of benefits to individuals who lose their jobs because of conflicts between work and family responsibilities and to unemployed individuals whose family responsibilities restrict the types of jobs that they are able to take. He finds that the states have differed greatly concerning the degree to …

The Uniform Adoption Act's Health Disclosure Provisions: A Model That Should Not Be Overlooked, Marianne Blair

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Unprecedented Intrusion: A Survey And Analysis Of Selected Grandparent Visitation Cases, Joan C. Bohl

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Family Franchise: Elderly Parents And Adult Siblings, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

In this paper, I am going to concentrate on one family transition where we have established substantial legal barriers-that of emancipation. However, I will briefly allude to other "broken families," such as the divorcing family and the family divided by adoption.

As students of the family, we are preoccupied with divorce. We write about families in crisis and use the fabric of their lives worn thin and stretched to the breaking point to develop our ideas about what families are and even what they ought to be. In a way, of course, law teaching and the Socratic method drive us …

The Two-Parent Family In The Liberal State: The Case For Selective Subsidies, Amy L. Wax

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article seeks to explore in a preliminary way some questions that would be raised by the adoption of such a program. The initial issue raised by the proposal is: does the government ever have any legitimate business favoring some family forms over others? The first-pass answer would appear to be "yes." The law recognizes marriage, restricts it to persons of the opposite sex (at least for now), and confers upon married couples comparative rights and privileges-although fewer than have been enjoyed in the past. The more difficult questions are: what exactly is the nature of the government's interest in …

Lessons From The New English And Australian Child Support Systems, J. Thomas Oldham

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the last decade, both England and Australia have reformed their child support systems. While both nations desired to shift the financial burden of child support in single-parent families from society to absent parents, England and Australia enacted different administrative schemes to achieve this goal. In this Article, the author first explores the features of the English and Australian child support systems. The author then proceeds to analyze the merits of the two systems and the implications for other nations in light of the two nations' relative ability to achieve underlying policy goals.

The Law And The Stability Of Marriage: The Family As A Social Institution, Carl E. Schneider

Book Chapters

Samuel Johnson once wrote, "It is so far from being natural for a man and woman to live in a state of marriage that we find all the motives which they have for remaining in that connection, and the restraints which civilized society imposes to prevent separation, are hardly sufficient to keep them together." In this chapter I shall pursue Dr. Johnson's provocative suggestion by asking what restraints (if any) society might impose through law on couples to join them in marriage in the first place and to keep them in it after they have married.

But why might society …

Custody And Conduct: How The Law Fails Lesbian And Gay Parents And Their Children, Julie Shapiro

Faculty Articles

When parents dispute child custody, courts determine their rights by using a "best interests of the child" analysis. In this context, courts consider a host of factors, including parental sexuality. When considering the suitability of custody for a lesbian or gay parents, most courts employ a nexus test - one that requires a showing of a nexus between parental sexuality and the well-being of the child. A smaller number continue to use a harsher test that disqualifies lesbian and gay parents under a per se rule. This article argues that closer examination reveals that even the apparently more liberal nexus …

The Effect On The Child Of A Custodial Parent's Involvement In An Intimate Same-Sex Relationship - North Carolina Adopts The "Nexus Test" In Pulliam V. Smith, Vicki Parrott

Campbell Law Review

This Note examines the North Carolina Court of Appeals decision in Pulliam v. Smith. First, the Note discusses the facts of the case and the opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Then, the Note examines (1) child custody law in North Carolina; (2) North Carolina case law addressing the effect on the child of a custodial parent's sexual conduct and sexual orientation; and (3) child custody disputes in other jurisdictions which involve a custodial parent in an intimate same-sex relationship. Next, the Note analyzes the decision in Pulliam and its effect on child custody law in North …

Contractual Modification Of Past Due And Future Child Support Payments, Lynette K. Neel

Campbell Law Review

This comment will address the custodial parent's right to contract with the supporting parent to modify court-ordered child support payments. Part II discusses how the courts have classifled contracts made to settle past due child support payments. It will also explain the defenses that some courts recognize and utilize to protect the supporting parent when the courts refuse to enforce the contracts. Part III discusses the different rationales for either enforcing or invalidating contracts that modify future child support payments. Part IV recommends that the courts allow parents to contractually modify payments and that the courts use traditional contract principles, …

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," …

Welfare Reform And Child Care: A Proposal For State Legislation, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

Without subsidized child care, Dianne Williams, the mother of an eighteen-month-old son, would never have left welfare and earned the post-secondary degree that led to her current job as a senior secretary; Tammy Stinson, a U.S. Air Force veteran and 29-year-old mother of two children, would spend up to $150 of her weekly $200 salary on child care, increasing the likelihood she would turn to welfare or live in poverty; Jerry Andrews, a graduate of a government-funded early childhood education program, might not earn $31,200 a year and be working towards an engineering degree. These individuals are lucky. The vast …

God Bless The Child: Poor Children, Parens Patriae, And A State Obligation To Provide Assistance, Kay P. Kindred

Scholarly Works

In this Article, I argue that poor parents who are willing, but economically unable, to provide proper care for their children are entitled to some minimum level of state assistance grounded in the constitutional right to family integrity. The right to family integrity, when coupled with the state's power as parens patride, creates an affirmative obligation on the state to provide income assistance to impoverished families when necessary to protect the welfare of the children and maintain the family intact.

The Deliberate Contruction Of Families Without Fathers: Is It An Option For Lesbian And Heterosexual Mothers, Nancy Polikoff

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The Kiddie Tax: A Nuisance Solution To A Nonexistent Problem (Special Tax Symposium), Richard C.E. Beck

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Adoption Law: Congratulations For Now--Current Law, The Revised Uniform Adoption Act, And Final Adoptions, Eric C. Czerwinski

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Irresponsible" Reproduction, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, there have been countless calls for reversing the rise in irresponsibility in American society.' Calls for restoring personal responsibility in both private and political life sound from both of the major political parties as well as from various cultural critics, pundits, and academics. 2 Proponents of a return to personal responsibility wage their battle on numerous fronts, advocating a cultural revolution, a moral revival, and a recovery of "virtue" to bring about a reformation of attitudes and behaviors regarded as troublesome. 3 Many voices now urge that law and public policy should encourage, or require, personal responsibility …

Guardianship: A Research Note, Lawrence M. Friedman, Joanna L. Grossman, Chris Guthrie

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Speech And Press

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Children We Abandon: Religious Exemptions To Child Welfare And Education Law As Denials Of Equal Protection To Children Of Religious Objectors, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

The story of children who die because their parents, in observance of their own religious principles, withhold conventional medical treatment from them is a familiar one. In this Article, James G. Dwyer shows that the phenomenon of parents denying secular benefits to their children for religious reasons goes far beyond these few highly publicized cases, extending into the realm of education as well as medical care. Moreover, Dr. Dwyer shows that the federal and state governments endorse this practice by statutorily exempting 'religious objector' parents from otherwise generally applicable compulsory child care and education laws. He argues that courts addressing …

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.

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.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Separating From Children, Carol Sanger

Faculty Scholarship

On September 1, 1939, in anticipation of the imminent German bombing of British cities, 150,000 children were assembled at the railway stations of London and sent throughout the day to "'destinations unknown'" in the English countryside. Mothers and children under five were evacuated together but school-age children were shipped out to rural billets in school groups, accompanied only by their teachers and civil defense volunteers. Forty years later, an observer remembered the day vividly:

[T]he mothers [were] trying to hold back their tears as they marched these little boys and girls in their gas masks into the centre …. The …

The Road Less Taken: Annulment At The Turn Of The Century, Joanna L. Grossman, Chris Guthrie

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Welfare Reform And Child Care: A Proposal For State Legislation, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

The shortage of subsidized child care creates three problems. First, it contributes to underemployment because job options are greatly reduced when child care is unavailable. Second, it erodes the wages of parents who do work because low-income families spend a debilitating percentage of their earnings to pay for the care of their children. Third, it relegates many children to poor quality child care settings, compromising their academic potential and social well-being, and placing them at risk for delinquency and dependency. Part I of this article discusses the current paucity of quality, affordable child care, and the effects of this shortage. …