Family Law Commons^™

Consider The Consequences, Martha Minow

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Divorce Revolution: The Unexpected Social and Economic Consequences for Women and Children in America by Lenore J. Weitzman

A Consideration Of Alternatives To Divorce Litigation, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues for the need to inform divorce proceedings with a sense of the human reality of matrimonial breakdown. Part one assesses the adequacy of the existing adjudicatory approach to divorce by focusing upon the hiatus between the legal approach to divorce and the emotional content of divorce disputes. Part two lays the foundation for constructive change, providing a statistical portrait of divorce in contemporary America. Part four discusses mediation and suggests that it is a more viable alternative mechanism to divorce litigation. Part five discusses the implementation of a judicial arbitration structure.

Modification Of Divorce Decrees By Virtue Of The 1984 Tax Amendments Relating To Dependency Exemptions, Roger M. Baron

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Divorce Bargaining: The Limits On Private Ordering, Robert H. Mnookin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In an article published in the Yale Law Journal, I suggested an alternative perspective for family law scholars concerned with divorce. It emphasized negotiation, not adjudication; private ordering, not regulation. This change in emphasis seemed timely, if not overdue. Available evidence has long shown that the overwhelming majority of divorcing couples resolve the distributional questions concerning marital property, alimony, child support, and custody without bringing any contested issue to court for adjudication. Therefore, the primary impact of the legal system falls not on the small number of contested cases, but instead on the far greater number of divorcing couples …

Using Formulas To Separate Marital And Nonmarital Property: A Policy Oriented Approach To The Division Of Appreciated Property Upon Divorce, Louise Everett Graham

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Over the past ten years every writer venturing to discuss domestic relations must have been tempted to emphasize the importance of his or her work by opening with mention of the growing number of divorce cases confronting the court system. Beyond its numerical impact upon the judicial process, however, divorce litigation provides an important opportunity for the study of property rights and the institutions from which those fights are derived. Divorce cases increasingly involve difficult and complex questions concerning the marital property rights of the marriage partners. The importance of marital property cases is broader than the individual rules 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 …

Domestic Relations—Arkansas Supreme Court Defines Marital Property To Include Future Pension Benefits, Roger L. Morgan

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Clause And Religion In Child Custody Disputes: Factoring Religion Into The Best Interest Equation, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines when judges deciding custody disputes may consider potential custodians' religious practices without violating the establishment clause of the first amendment to the Constitution. Although courts agree that they may not prefer one parent to another for religious reasons when both parents are religious and neither parent's religious practices threaten the child's health or safety, some courts believe that they may constitutionally prefer a religious parent to a nonreligious parent. Part I argues that courts violate the establishment clause by preferring religion to nonreligion when there is no showing that the child has personal religious convictions. Part II …

Reforming The Tax Treatment Of Divorce: Splitting The Benefits Of A Split, C. Garrison Lepow

Seattle University Law Review

The purpose of this Article is to consider the tax consequences of divorce, particularly those problems relating to property settlements. The tax consequences of alimony and child support are also considered. These problems have a long history that must be reviewed in order to understand both the present law and the current proposals which were considered by the House Ways and Means Committee during the last session of Congress. Unfortunately, the narrowness of the legislative proposals permits many of the problems to continue; the proposals change only the timing of the problem.

The Arkansas Marital Property Statute And The Arkansas Appellate Courts: Tiptoeing Together Through The Tulips, Ora Fred Harris Jr.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Substantive Rules For Custody Disputes In Divorce, David L. Chambers

Articles

A few states, mostly in the West and South, still retain a preference in custody disputes for placing young children with their mothers. In most other states, legislatures or courts have replaced the maternal presumption with a rule directing courts to be guided solely by the child's "welfare" or "best interests." A few legislatures have created a new preference for joint custody, directing courts to consider favorably requests by a parent for such arrangements, even over the objection of the other parent. This Article argues that the trend away from the maternal presumption is sensible, but that the current best-interests …

Using Formulas To Separate Marital And Nonmarital Property: A Policy Oriented Approach To The Division Of Appreciated Property Upon Divorce, Louise Everett Graham

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Antenuptial Contracts And Divorce In Kentucky: A Better Approach, J. Clarke Keller

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Virginia's Domestic Relations Long-Arm Legislation: Does Its Reach Exceed Its Due Process Grasp?, E. Roy Hawkens

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Relevance Of Premarital Cohabitation To Property Division Awards In Divorce Proceedings: An Evaluation Of Present Trends And A Proposal For Legislative Reform, Barbara Freedman Wand

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Coming Curtailment Of Compulsory Child Support, David L. Chambers

Articles

Absent parents ought to contribute to the support of their minor children and states can appropriately invoke the force of law to compel them to do so. Stated so generally, even absent parents behind in their payments would probably agree. Since so many others agree as well, and since the numbers of single-parent children have mushroomed, systems of governmentally compelled support in this country have grown enormously. By the early part of the next century, if current laws remain in force and current population trends continue, most of America's children on any given day will be entitled to support from …

The Revolution In Family Law: 45 Landmark Decisions: Four Experts Look At The Most Significant Cases Handed Down During The Last Two Decades, Randall M. Chastain, Monroe L. Inker, Sanford N. Katz, Frances H. Miller, Walter Weyrauch

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

I.R.C. Section 71: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, John A. Lynch Jr.

Duquesne Law Review

The author believes that applying the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code governing the tax treatment of payments made incident to separation and divorce has become complicated and unpredictable. In this article, Professor Lynch examines how I.R.C. sections 71 and 215 have developed, given congressional intent, with respect to the definition of an obligation of support, the differentiation between a support obligation and a property interest, and the periodic payment requirement. He concludes with suggestions aimed at simplifying the law with respect to these payments.

Property Settlements In Divorce Proceedings: Patterson V. Patterson Case, Rita Greene

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreign Migratory Divorces: A Reappraisal, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of this Article is to review and reappraise the important legal principles involved in foreign country migratory divorces; to discuss the various public policy rationales behind them; and to suggest possible remedies to alleviate much of this ambiguity and confusion.

In undertaking this evaluation, the author is mindful of dual responsibilities-that divorce law in this area should be predictable and uniform in order to maintain the authority of legal precedent; but at the same time it must attempt to approximate, as closely as possible, the clearly demonstrated needs of society.

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.

Community Property After Hisquierdo V. Hisquierdo, Marie Stefanini Newman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Comment will briefly discuss California's community property system, and the standards traditionally required by the Supreme Court for federal pre-emption of state property law. It will also examine the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Railroad Retirement Act which led the Court to conclude that the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and demanded federal pre-emption in this case. It will discuss the Hisquierdo test for federal pre-emption, which the Supreme Court has since used to override state community property systems. Finally, it will evaluate whether the case was correctly decided.

Bankruptcy Court Jurisdiction To Modify Alimony Payments Of Chapter 13 Debtors, Peter Swiecicki

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This article examines a bankruptcy court's power to modify a chapter 13 debtor's alimony payments. Part I discusses the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction in chapter 13 cases and the connection between the chapter 13 case and alimony modification proceedings. It then outlines the domestic relations limitation and the resulting conflict between bankruptcy courts and state courts with respect to alimony modification. Part II analyzes various arguments for and against allowing bankruptcy courts to hear alimony modification requests in chapter 13 cases. This analysis reveals that any state interests are far outweighed by the substantial benefits to be gained from consolidating the …

Parenting At And After Divorce: A Search For New Models, Carol S. Bruch

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Surviving the Breakup: How Children and Parents Cope with Divorce by Judith S. Wallerstein and Joan Berlin Kelly

Family Law: Ought A Professional Degree Be Divisible As Property Upon Divorce?, Beth H. Lamb

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Divorce, An Overlooked Tax Planning Tool (Or Gimmick), Theodore W. Hirsh

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child Custody And Parental Authority In France, Louisiana And Other States Of The United States: A Comparative Analysis, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Analytical And Comparative Variations On Selected Provisions Of Book One Of The Louisiana Civil Code With Special Consideration Of The Role Of Fault In The Determination Of Marital Disputes, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Faculty Scholarship

This article is intended to be a type of "structuralist" commentary upon selected provisions in Book I of the Louisiana Civil Code. Its sole purpose is to illustrate, both for pedagogical and doctrinal reasons, some of the analytical difficulties to which these code provisions might give rise when they are read in a close textual fashion. It should be emphasized that this study is a textual commentary and not a historical assessment of the sources or origins of the code texts – the latter analysis is outside the purview of the present endeavor.

Accordingly, this article consists of a critical …

The Distrubution Of Marital Real Property Upon Divorce In West Virginia: The Need For Legislative Reform, John F. Cyrus

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Legal Effect Of Marital Separation Agreements Upon Community Property Status: Is It Time To Amend The Constitutional Definition Of Wife's Separate Property., Teresa A. Hunter

St. Mary's Law Journal

The present constitutional definition of married women’s separate property serves to protect the wife’s property rights and to preserve the community property system in Texas. However, the policy reasons for the constitutional definition no longer apply, since there is no present danger of the legislature reducing the property rights of married women or abandoning the community property system. Further, the needs and customs of the people of Texas have changed since the adoption of the original Texas Constitution in 1845. Today, it is estimated that thirty percent of couples who marry in the United States eventually divorce and sixty percent …