Family Law Commons^™

In Re Lisa R. 13 Cal. 3d 336, 532 P.2d 123, 119 Cal. Rptr. 475 (1975), Elliot Shelton

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Thompson V. Thompson: The Jurisdictional Dilemma Of Child Custody Cases Under The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act , Steven M. Schuetze

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Unwed Father's Custody Claim In California: When Does The Parental Preference Doctrine Apply?, Jeffrey S. Boyd

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Exit Myth: Family Law, Gender Roles, And Changing Attitudes Toward Female Victims Of Domestic Violence, Carolyn B. Ramsey

Publications

This Article presents a hypothesis suggesting how and why the criminal justice response to domestic violence changed, over the course of the twentieth century, from sympathy for abused women and a surprising degree of state intervention in intimate relationships to the apathy and discrimination that the battered women' movement exposed. The riddle of declining public sympathy for female victims of intimate-partner violence can only be solved by looking beyond the criminal law to the social and legal changes that created the Exit Myth.

While the situation that gave rise to the battered women's movement in the 1970s is often presumed …

Guardians Ad Litem Do Not Belong In Family Mediations , Suzanne J. Schmitz

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

A Guardiam Ad Litem (GAL) is valuable to the resolution of custody disputes because the GAL evaluates the facts concerning the dispute and recommends to the court what are the best interests of the child.5 Mediation is valuable because parents can determine their own decisions regarding their children. However, where appointing a GAL threatens the value of mediation, there is a risk to mediation. A simple solution to avoid this threat is to refrain from appointing a GAL until after mediation has been attempted or, if one is appointed prior to mediation, to excuse the GAL from mediation. This article …

Displaced Mothers, Absent And Unnatural Fathers: Lgbt Transracial Adoption, Kim H. Pearson

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

While some might believe that Black versus gay discourse only surfaces in highly politicized settings like the military and marriage, it holds sway in the area of LGBT transracial adoption. LGBT transracial adoptions are a relatively small percentage of all adoptions, which include private adoptions, LGBT second-parent adoptions, and step-parent adoptions, but they are an important site for interrogating the Black versus gay discourse because adoption and custody decisions often address parent-child transmission. When claims intersect, as they do in a case where a White LGBT foster parent and a Black maternal grandmother dispute the adoption of a Black child, …

International Child Abduction And Children's Rights: Two Means To The Same End, Eran Sthoeger

Michigan Journal of International Law

The Hague Convention aims to deter future abductors and demonstrate mutual respect for the laws of its member states, while presumably serving the best interests of the child. It operates as a jurisdictional mechanism by reinstating the status quo prior to the removal through the prompt return of the child to his or her place of habitual residence. This return, as clearly stated in the Hague Convention itself, bears no effect on the merits of any existing or future custody dispute between the parents. The Hague Convention demands that contracting states respect past or future decisions pertaining to custody decided …

Memorandum: Accommodating The Uccjea And The 1996 Hague Convention, Robert G. Spector

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Undermining Kulko At Home And Abroad, John J. Sampson

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Please Let Me Stay": Hearing The Voice Of The Child In Hague Abduction Cases, Linda Elrod

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child Custody Modification Law: The Never-Ending Battle For Peace Of Mind, Brianna F. Isserdutt

Nevada Law Journal

Ellis v. Carucci represents an evolution in Nevada’s child custody laws that should continue. Before Ellis, Nevada courts modified custody arrangements without explicitly considering the best interests of the child. Ellis cemented the legislative intent behind Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) § 125.4803 to make the child’s best interest the focus of the judge’s decision in custody cases.

However, Ellis and NRS §125.480 are not enough to accomplish this overarching goal. The Nevada legislature should revise NRS § 125.480 so that the statute explicitly recognizes the instability and adjustments that children of divorce must endure. The statute should also be revised …

A Hidden Crisis: The Need To Strengthen Representation Of Parents In Child Protective Proceedings, Vivek Sankaran

Articles

A national consensus is emerging that zealous legal representation of parents is crucial in ensuring that the child welfare system produces just outcomes for children. National groups, inclucing the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, and the National Association of Counsel for Children, have been outspoken on the need to strengthen legal advocacy on behalf of parents, and a number of states-including Colorado, Connecticut,' and Washington7 have initiated efforts to comprehensively reform their systems of appointing lawyers for indigent parents to better serve families. A national movement is afoot …

It's The Hard Luck Life: Women's Moral Luck And Eucatastrophe In Child Custody Allocation, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

No abstract provided.

Parent Education Programs: Review Of The Literature And Annotated Bibliography, Barbara A. Babb, Gloria Danziger, Judith D. Moran, Itta Englander

All Faculty Scholarship

Court-connected parent education programs are an integral family service component in most of the nation’s family courts. These programs are implemented to enable the courts to respond efficiently and effectively to the proliferation of cases involving separation, divorce, and related issues such as child custody and access (Sigal, Sandler, Wolchik, and Braver, 2008; Pollet and Lombreglia, 2008; McIntosh and Deacon-Wood, 2003). Since 2007, parent education classes are mandatory in forty-six states (Pollet and Lombreglia, 2008). In Maryland, every court with jurisdiction over divorce and child custody matters utilizes some form of parent education.

The findings discussed in this literature review …

Child Custody Evaluations: Review Of The Literature And Annotated Bibliography, Barbara A. Babb, Gloria Danziger, Judith D. Moran, J. Mason Weeda, William A. Mack

All Faculty Scholarship

This review of custody evaluation literature encompasses a number of perspectives gleaned from the following: practitioners who perform the evaluations; the professional organizations that recognize the necessity to establish performance standards for practitioners; and the judges who depend on the findings and recommendations in the evaluations to assist with difficult custody decisions.

General agreement exists among practitioners about the components of a comprehensive evaluation (interviews of adults responsible for child care, interviews of children and their preferences, life histories, observations, psychological testing, document review, and collateral source data), though little consensus exists about the details of performance concerning a given …

Supervised Visitation And Monitored Exchange: Review Of The Literature And Annotated Bibliography, Barbara A. Babb, Gloria Danziger, Judith D. Moran, William A. Mack

All Faculty Scholarship

Though courts increasingly rely on supervised visitation services in custody disputes and child welfare cases (Salem, Kulak, & Deutsch, 2007), a search of the literature produces few studies reporting empirically validated aspects of supervised visitation programs. The current literature about supervised visitation extensively documents the rationale for providing the service and contains numerous descriptions of provider programs (Birnbaum & Alaggia, 2006). The next generation of research must focus on long-term outcomes that demonstrate effectiveness of supervised visitation programs (Birnbaum & Alaggia, 2006).

This project involves a review of the literature concerning supervised visitation and child access services. The intent of …

How Embedded Knowledge Structures Affect Judicial Decision Making: An Analysis Of Metaphor, Narrative, And Imagination In Child Custody Disputes, Linda L. Berger

Scholarly Works

We live in a time of radically changing conceptions of family and of the relationships possible between children and parents. Though undergoing "a sea-change," family law remains tethered to culturally embedded stories and symbols. While so bound, family law will fail to serve individual families and a society whose family structures diverge sharply by education, race, class, and income.

This article advances a critical rhetorical analysis of the interaction of metaphor and narrative within the specific context of child custody disputes. Its goal is to begin to examine how these embedded knowledge structures affect judicial decision making generally; more specifically, …

Surrogacy And The Politics Of Commodification, Elizabeth S. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

In 2004, the Illinois legislature passed the Gestational Surrogacy Act, which provides that a child conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and born to a surrogate mother automatically becomes the legal child of the intended parents at birth if certain conditions are met. Under the Act, the woman who bears the child has no parental status. The bill generated modest media attention, but little controversy; it passed unanimously in both houses of the legislature and was signed into law by the governor.

This mundane story of the legislative process in action stands in sharp contrast to the political tale of …

Who Is A Parent?, Michelle M. Botek, Dorothy R. Fait, Jillian L. Dilaura

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Bus Bombings And A Baby's Custody: Insidious Victories For Terrorism In The Context Of International Custody Disputes, Andrew Zashin

Faculty Publications

This article will address the problematic intersection of terrorism and child custody battles. The most immediate consequences of a terrorist attack are loved ones lost and buildings reduced to rubble. These losses are devastating, shocking and scary. But to end an analysis of terrorist victories with a body count is a fatal mistake. Americans fervently shout we cannot let "them" win, but how do we decide if they are winning? What do the terrorists want? It is not the goal of terrorists to simply kill Americans, causing death and destruction. That is merely a horrific means to their end. Terrorists …

Children, Kin, And Court: Designing Third Party Custody Policy To Protect Children, Third Parties And Parents, Joshua Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Scholarship

Millions of American children are raised primarily by people other than their parents, mostly by grandparents and other kin, and millions more are raised by third parties for some period of their childhood. In most such situations, informal arrangements negotiated by family members and kinship networks effectively provide care for these children. Many cases, however, require some formal legal arrangement; third party custody orders are needed to obtain necessary services and benefits for children whose parents are absent, and to protect children in the rare but still significant instances in which a parent is abusive or neglectful.

States currently have …

Advocating For The Constitutional Rights Of Nonresident Fathers, Vivek Sankaran

Articles

Months after a child welaare case is petitioned, a nonresident father appears in court and requests custody of his children who are living in foster care. Little is known about the father, and immediately, the system-judge, caseworkers, and attorneys view him with suspicion and caution, inquiring about his whereabouts and his prior involvement in the children's lives. Those doubts, in turn, raise complicated questions about his legal rights to his children. As a practioner working in the child welfare system, you're likely to face this scenario. The largest percentage of child victims of abuse and neglect come from households headed …

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle: Maternal Gatekeeping After Divorce, Marsha Kline Pruett, Lauren A. Arthur, Rachel Ebling

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

But I Didn't Do Anything Wrong: Revisiting The Rights Of Non-Offending Parents In Child Protection Proceedings, Vivek Sankaran

Articles

Steven, a minor living with his mother, enjoyed a nurturing relationship with his father, Mark. He saw his father every weekend and looked forward to their time together. Mark looked for ways in which to stay involved in his child's life. Two days ago, the Department of Human Services (DHS) removed Steven from his mother's custody because, unbeknown to Mark, Stevens mother was selling drugs in the home. At the time of removal, the police did not inquire about the whereabouts of Stevens father; DHS immediately placed Steven in a foster home.

The Ethics Of Child Custody Evaluation: Advocacy, Respect For Parents, And The Right To An Open Future, Aviva A. Orenstein

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Penalty Defaults In Family Law: The Case Of Child Custody, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

This paper considers whether an amendment to state divorce laws that strengthens its joint custody preference operates as a traditional default rule, specifying what most divorcing couples would choose or as a penalty default rule the parties will attempt to contract around.

While the Oregon statutes that frame our discussion here, like most state laws, do not state an explicit preference for joint custody, shared custody is certainly encouraged by Section 107.179, which refers cases in which the parties cannot agree on joint custody to mediation and by Section 107.105, which requires the court to consider awarding custody jointly. In …

Differentiating Types Of Domestic Violence: Implications For Child Custody, Nancy Ver Steegh

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines child custody determinations through the lens of a domestic violence typology. The resulting analysis (1) reconciles competing viewpoints and contradictory evidence about domestic violence; (2) matches families with appropriate child custody court procedures and services such as parent education, mediation, supervised visitation and parent coordination; and (3) exposes serious deficiencies in current domestic violence childcustody statutes.

The Aaml Model For A Parenting Plan, Mary Kay Kisthardt

Faculty Works

The American Law Institute's Principles on the Law of Family Dissolution were published in 2002. These principles, which were developed over nearly a decade, reflect the thinking of prominent family law scholars, practitioners and judges concerning the legal consequences of marital dissolution: child custody, child support, distribution of marital property and compensatory payments to former spouses. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers undertook the process of reviewing the ALI Principles concerning the Allocation of Custodial Decision-Making Responsibilities for Children and drafting a model parenting plan that would reflect the spirit of the ALI Principles relating to parenting plans without reference …

Does Parental Autonomy Require Equal Custody At Divorce?, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

This paper considers the affect of amendments to state divorce laws that strengthen their joint custody preference. It does so in the context of suits by noncustodial parents challenging substantive custody standards not requiring equal custody at divorce. The complaint is that most custody laws, by using a best interests standard rather than equally dividing custodial time, violate substantive due process. Further, two states, Iowa and Maine, have recently amended their custody legislation to strongly presume joint physical custody.

After setting out the constitutional problem and describing the legislation in some detail, this paper tests the effects of the change …

Divorce Child Custody Mediation: In Order To Form A More Perfect Disunion , Ben Barlow

Cleveland State Law Review

The adversarial process serves its purpose in our society; however, that does not mean that there are not better ways to handle specific cases. To that end, nonadversarial systems offer tremendous potential in civil litigation, in governmental relations, in neighborhood and family conflicts, and, especially, in divorce child custody cases. If mediation statutes are contemplated for the sole purpose of judicial economy, discretionary statutes are sufficient. For the true value of mediation to be experienced, however, a mandatory scheme containing safeguards for cases involving domestic violence should be implemented.Understandably, many mediators are leery of the effect that mandatory schemes have …