Family Law Commons^™

Domestic Violence As A Factor In Custody Determinations In New York State, Hon. Judith J. Gische

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In 1996, the New York State Legislature mandated that rial courts consider the effect of domestic violence in child custody and visitation disputes. In 1998, the legislature amended the law to provide that, under most circumstances, a person convicted of murdering a child's parent shall be denied custody and visitation. The amendment was in response to a growing national trend to give greater attention to the serious effect domestic violence has on children. While the law now conveys the seriousness with which the legislature view domestic violence, many problems inherent in resolving custody and visitation disputes involving domestic violence still …

When Daddy Wants Out: The Issue Of Paternity, Jane C. Murphy, Cheri Wyron Levin

All Faculty Scholarship

Perhaps you've seen the signs along a number of major highways in Maryland. A pregnant Mona Lisa advertising a DNA testing company with the caption "Who's the Daddy?" With the rise in the number of children born out of wedlock in Maryland in the last several decades, paternity testing is becoming routine and family law practitioners are handling more cases in which the father or mother or both are trying to change who is named as the legal father in a paternity or divorce judgment. The law governing such cases has changed substantially since 1995. This article will guide the …

Collecting Child Support: A History Of Federal And State Initiatives, Jane C. Murphy, Naomi R. Cahn

All Faculty Scholarship

In this article we sketch an overview of the increasing federal involvement in the child-support area. Because the federal role has grown so dramatically over the past 25 years, family law practitioners need to understand the different federal programs and requirements that affect state management of child-support programs. While for many low-income parents state agencies handle child-support establishment and collection, the federalization of child support has practical implications when it comes to both establishing and enforcing child support. For example, as the time limits of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act begin to have their effects, child support …

Weighing The Domestic Violence Factor In Custody Cases: Tipping The Scales In Favor Of Protecting Victims And Their Children, Kim Susser

Scholarly Works

In 1996, the New York State Legislature attempted to afford additional protection to domestic violence victims and their children involved in custody disputes by amending New York's Domestic Relations Law and the Family Court Act to mandate consideration of domestic violence when determining the best interests of the child in custody and visitation cases. Four years later, it is evident that the amendment failed to change the behavior of the courts or overcome the entrenched attitudes of many judges, attorneys and forensic evaluators regarding domestic violence.

The first Part of this Article contains a brief overview of the case law …

The Tragic And Chaotic Aftermath Of A Baby Switch: Should Policy And Common Law, Blood Ties, Or Psychological Bonds Prevail, Cynthia R. Mabry

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Rules, Responsibility And Commitment To Children: The New Language Of Morality In Family Law, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

Part One of this Article explores the meaning of morality by briefly reviewing a variety of attempts to explore the meaning of moral conduct. This Section draws on a variety of contemporary moral philosophers who have built on the classical tradition to develop a broader definition of moral behavior. This discussion provides a context for the current debate about the meaning of morality in family law and moral discourse in the no-fault era. Part One also reviews the historical debate about how law should strike a balance between promoting communitarian values and respecting autonomy and individual rights. The Article argues …

'M' Is For The Many Things That 'Mother' Means Family Life Has Changed, But Family Law Hasn't Kept Pace, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Assembly Bill To Speed Divorce After Abuse Will Save Many Lives, Bring Needed Reform, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Legal Images Of Motherhood: Conflicting Definitions From Welfare "Reform," Family And Criminal Law, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

Part I of this Article explores the traditional idealized view of motherhood that child placement statutes and court decisions reflect. These laws include statutes and case law in custody disputes between parents and in child protection proceedings under civil and criminal laws where the dispute is between the parent and the state. Part II contrasts the legal construct of motherhood that child placement laws embody with the legal image of mothers in child support and welfare law.

Part III examines the impact of these conflicting images of motherhood on a particular group of mothers -- battered women. Battered women illuminate …

Comparativist Ruminations From The Bayou On Child Custody Jurisdiction: The Uccja, The Pkpa, And The Hague Convention On Child Abduction, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Interstate and international jurisdictional problems are often vexing. They are worse in matters of child custody. In the past, jurisdiction to obtain custody or to modify a custody decree required only presence or domicile. The United States population is transient and custody decisions are subject to modification. The volatility of child custody disputes and the tendency of parents to move to different and separate jurisdictions traditionally caused and continue to cause difficult problems for children, parents, and the legal system. Before the promulgation of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA) and the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA), it was …

"To Be Or Not To Be A Parent?" The Search For A Solution To Custody Disputes Over Frozen Embryos, Esther M. Schonfeld

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Second Hand Smoke And Child Custody Determinations--A Relevant Factor Or A Smoke Screen?, Merril Sobie

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The thesis of this brief article is simply that the tobacco habits of a parent are relevant and worthy of consideration when a child is asthmatic, or suffers from some other definable medical condition which would be exacerbated by passive smoke. However, when the child is healthy and there exists no definitive short-term medical risk, the issue should be irrelevant. In other words, the court should consider those factors, and only those factors, which are of significant importance to the child, such as stability, caretaker skills, home environment and the child's wishes. Concededly, second-hand smoke is harmful even to a …

Family Fundamentals, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

On the surface, ML.B. v. S.L.J., No. 95-853, hardly seems worthy of the nation's highest court, in part because our scheme of federalism generally leaves issues such as child custody to state law. But peeling back the layers of this case reveals the potential for a significant ruling on the constitutional treatment of family relationships, fundamental rights and access to courts for civil proceed with a appeals.

Freedom Of Speech And Press

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Whatever Happened To The "Best Interests" Analysis In New York Relocation Cases? A Response, Merril Sobie

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This response to Justice Sondra Miller’s article will first discuss the competing interests and expectations of the parties to a relocation dispute, and briefly outline the national view or views. In fact, there is no national standard, or anything approaching a consensus among the states. The New York experience under the exceptional circumstances standard will then be analyzed and appraised. My conclusion is that the standard should be maintained, although I believe that the Court of Appeals should revisit the issue to clarify the factors and criteria relevant to a determination.

Implementing Custody Mediation In Family Court: Some Comments On The Jefferson County Family Court Experience, Louise Everett Graham

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The Jefferson Family Court's custody mediation service was developed as part of a larger program creating the first family court system in Kentucky. The mediation service's connection with the Family Court has influenced both practical and policy aspects of its development. Any description of the mediation project necessarily entails some description of the court system that created it.

This Article describes the structure of the Jefferson Family Court and the custody mediation process as it has developed in Jefferson County. A review of one community's approach to custody mediation may be useful not only as a blueprint for a system's …

Starting Down The Road To Reform: Kentucky's New Long-Arm Statute For Family Obligations, Louise Everett Graham

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Kentucky has long needed a comprehensive family law provision for its long-arm statute. Before the general long-arm statute was amended by the 1992 General Assembly, it addressed only a narrow class of paternity cases among its specific jurisdictional provisions, ignoring the need for long-arm jurisdiction in other domestic relations cases. A second long-arm statute provided jurisdiction over some nonresidents to establish or enforce child support obligations. In the contexts of divorce and child support, Kentucky's failure to claim constitutionally available jurisdiction deprived Kentucky residents of important protection.

Recent amendments to Kentucky statutes fill previous gaps and expand Kentucky's jurisdiction in …

In Re Custody Of Dfs, A Minor Child 92-Ap-4 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., April 29, 1992), Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

• In the Blackfeet tribal Court of Appeals, the Court considered whether the best interests of a child surpass the interests of other interested parties.

• The Court affirmed a lower court decision awarding custody of DFS to the child's natural parents over the child’s grandparents. In the view of the Court, the interests of the minor child are paramount to the interests of all other interested parties. The Court will not disturb the findings of a lower court to the best interests of the child absent evidence that the lower court failed to adequately consider contrary evidence. It is the duty …

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In Re Vielle Children, 92-Ap-05 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., April 27, 1992), Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

In the Blackfeet Tribal Court of Appeals, the Court vacated a prior temporary custody order which granted custody to the natural mother, and restored custody to the natural father. The Court reasoned that the previous temporary Custody Order was issued ex parte, directly to the judge without the other party’s knowledge, a practice that has been long prohibited. The lower court judge was removed from that case and deprived of all authority over this matter. This order violated due process rights of the father and the Blackfeet Law and Order Code.

In Re Augare Children, 90-Ap-04 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., Feb. 7, 1990), Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

In the Blackfeet Tribal Court of Appeals, the Court denied a writ of habeas corpus to return the children to their mother, citing the purpose of Habeas Corpus petitions are for unlawful detainment of persons in the tribal jail. The Court, sua sponte reversed the lower court’s temporary ex parte order granting custody to the children’s father, until a show cause hearing can be held to determine the best interests of the minor children. The Judge returned the children to their mother until a determination of their best interests can be made.

In Re Collins, No. 86-J-373, 88-Ap-6 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., May 5, 1988)., Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

The Court of Appeals declared a custody order null and void because not all parties known by the lower court to have an interest in the custody of a minor child were given notice of the hearing that determined custody.

Surrogate Parenting After Baby M: The Ball Moves To The Legislature’S Court, John R. Dunne, Gregory V. Serio

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child Custody - Jurisdiction And Procedure, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Custody determinations traditionally have comprised a subcategory of litigation under the Pennoyer v. Neff exception for proceedings relating to status. Of course, states have the power to decide the status of their domiciliaries. It was natural, therefore, for the courts and scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to consider domicile the sole basis of jurisdiction in custody matters. Gradually, judges and scholars began to challenge the notion that domicile was the sole basis and courts began to apply other bases, such as the child's presence in the state or personal jurisdiction over both parents. One commentator suggests that …

Kentucky Law Survey: Domestic Relations, Louise Everett Graham

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The following article presents a survey of domestic relations law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. During the survey period, the Kentucky appellate courts faced a series of cases that involved not only the usual problems relating to property division, post divorce support obligations and child custody, but which also implicated a number of federal statutory attempts' to regulate areas long considered solely the province of state regulation. The presence of new federal legislation in these areas represents Congressional attempts to solve some major difficulties in the domestic relations area. Few persons would argue, for example, that the battle for jurisdiction …

Visitation Beyond The Traditional Limitations, Michael J. Lewinsky

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Medical Dependency In Arizona, Mary E. Berkheiser

Scholarly Works

Analysis of In re Cochise County Juvenile Action No. 5666-J, 650 P.2d 459 (Ariz. 1982).

Maryland Custody Law - Fully Committed To The Child's Best Interests?, John W. Ester

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Law Survey: Domestic Relations, Louise Everett Graham, Janet Jakubowicz

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In the decade since Kentucky's adoption of the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (UMDA), appellate domestic relations opinions have focused primarily upon property division and child custody. Recent decisions continue this emphasis but also address problems regarding the marital relationship, spousal maintenance, and child support. This article provides a survey of Kentucky law in the field of domestic relations.

The Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege In Child Placement: A Relevancy Analysis, Thomas F. Guernsey

Law Faculty Publications

In any child placement decision, the predominant consideration is the welfare of the child. Accordingly, the most widely used test in determining child custody is clearly the "best interests of the child" standard. Despite its relatively old vintage, the standard continues to represent a nebulous concept that courts have rarely been able to define with precision. Because of its open-ended nature, the best interests of the child standard makes relevant a wide range of evidence pertaining to the fitness of the parents and the environment in which the child will be raised. it is in determining these facts that child …

Family Law–Child Custody–Counsel For Children Permitted, Deborah R. Sallings

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.