Family Law Commons^™

Should Children Have A Voice In Custodial Placement?, Emily Moore

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

The aim of this paper is to bring to attention the custodial placement of children with divorced parents. Essentially, this paper looks at the importance of involving the child in the process of deciding on a parenting schedule. This is done by examining how children are personally affected by this decision and arguments made to not involve children. Upon examination of these ideas, it becomes clear that during a divorce case children should be given the opportunity to share their opinion on the parenting schedule.

The Sleepwalker's Tour Of Divorce Law, John C. Sheldon

Maine Law Review

It's amazing what you can learn about modern divorce law from Nicholas Copernicus and Johannes Kepler. Copernicus was the 16th century churchman who dared to suggest that the sun, not the earth, lies at the center of the solar system. Kepler was the early-17th century mathematician whose three laws of planetary motion provided the foundation for modern cosmology. Neither of these pioneers had a clue what he was doing. A study of recent procedures, decisions, and statutes in Maine divorce law suggests that nothing has changed since Copernicus. Koestler could have written the same book just by attending a divorce …

Long V. Long: Law Court Ruling Changes The Disposition Of Joint Real Property On Divorce, Marc J. Veilleux

Maine Law Review

In Long v. Long the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, affirmed a district court divorce decree dividing the parties' residence of thirteen years as marital property, even though the majority of the funds used for its purchase were traceable to non-marital property the husband had acquired prior to the marriage. The governing statute instructed the district court to make an “equitable” disposition of all property acquired by the spouses during marriage, but required that it first “set apart to each spouse the spouse's [separate] property,” including property acquired during marriage by a spouse “in exchange for …

A Change In Military Pension Division: The End Of Court-Adjudicated Indemnification - Howell V. Howell, Eliza Grace Lynch

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

It Takes A Village: Empowering The Dead Broke Parent, Wendy Tolson Ross

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The “Legal Stranger” And Parent: A Love Story?, Kellie Mahoney

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Chained Against Her Will: What A Get Means For Women Under Jewish Law, Michelle Kariyeva

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Yu V. Yu, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 90 (Nov. 22, 2017), Samantha Scofield

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Though vexatious litigant determinations are not independently appealable, they may be considered on appeal when included in an otherwise appealable order.

Protecting Children In Divorce: Lessons From Caroline Norton, Lucy S. Mcgough

Maine Law Review

No fault divorce is now popularly accepted, at least in non-Catholic populations of the West. Furthermore, the role of the court in divorce and separation disputes has dramatically adjusted from a fact-finder of fault, its traditional adjudicatory role, to an administrative overseer of the process of unwinding the family financial enterprise and approving parenting arrangements. Less appreciated because it is a still-incomplete contemporary transfiguration is the divorce court's role in attempting to enhance parents' future interactions with each other. It is estimated that one-fourth to one-third of divorcing parents have considerable difficulty regaining their footing after separation and perhaps one …

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

University of Richmond Law Review

Another year of family law activity in Virginia brought both new

legislation, which will likely have long-term impacts, as well as a

new set of judicial opinions that will bring changes to the Virginia

rules. The terrain covered in the legislation and opinions varies,

but it includes certain fixtures such as marriage and divorce requirements,

equitable distribution, spousal and child support, and

child custody. This brief overview addresses all these areas, beginning

with the legislative changes and then moving to the courts.

Mediating Towards Forgiveness & Family Reconciliation In Divorce; Select Issues In Dispute Resolution: Apology & Forgiveness, Selina J. Shultz

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This paper examines the importance of forgiveness and the rebuilding of trust in the reconciliation of the family during and after a divorce, and contemplates the mediator’s role in leading the parties in this direction.

An Empirical Study Of Property Divisions At Divorce, Margaret Ryznar

Pace Law Review

Much has been written about family law and how to fairly divide property between divorcing spouses. Without a good understanding of what courts are doing in the field, however, there is no baseline for theoretical frameworks. This Article fills the void by analyzing all divorce cases involving children that were filed in one county over several months. The resulting empirical data has implications for the meaning of fairness in divorce, the role of judicial discretion, and the incentives for contracting by couples. This Article also examines the underlying law in order to explore the correlation between the family law code …

Judicial Discretion V. Predictable Outcomes: A Review Of The 2016 Amendments To The Illinois Marriage And Dissolution Of Marriage Act, David E. Braden

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In 2015, the Illinois General Assembly comprehensively amended the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA). Illinois legislators cited a desire to increase predictable outcomes and to minimize adversarial litigation as primary goals for passing this overall to Illinois’s marriage and divorce law. This Comment evaluates how the amendments advance the stated legislative goals of increasing predictable outcomes and minimizing litigation while maintaining flexibility for fact-specific decision-making through judicial discretion. While the results are mixed, this Comment identifies changes in key provisions to which practicing attorneys should take note.

A Guide For Family Mediators: Working With Self-Represented Litigants, Kelly Browe Olson, Andrea Clark

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Klabacka V. Nelson, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 24 (May 25, 2017), Christopher Kelly

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that (1) family courts have subject matter jurisdiction in divorce proceedings that involve issues otherwise outside the scope of family courts, (2) parol evidence may not be considered to determine party intent to form separate property agreements and self-settled spendthrift trusts where the written agreements are valid and unambiguous, (3) a court order equalizing assets between different spendthrift trusts is improper because the NRS protects against court orders that move assets from trusts and against moves that do not benefit trust beneficiaries, (4) spendthrift trusts may not be reached for payment of personal obligations not known at …

The Empirics Of Child Custody, Margaret Ryznar

Cleveland State Law Review

Child custody issues are as American as apple pie, with only a quarter of children seeing their parents married until the end. The legal standard for custody is the best interests of the child, but the greyness of this inquiry allows courts to make difficult judgments. In family law, such discretionary standards govern factually diverse cases and make it difficult to draw conclusions from individual cases. This Article offers an objective measurement in family law by empirically examining a sample of Indiana divorce cases filed during three months in 2008 that involved children. The resulting analysis of child custody and …

The New Phoenix: Maine's Innovative Standards For Guardians Ad Litem, Dana E. Prescott

Maine Law Review

In a 2014 article in the Maine Law Review, the author reviewed the historical and legal foundations for guardian ad litem (GAL) appointments by judges on behalf of children in Maine. GALs are appointed to provide the court with investigative facts and recommendations concerning the best interest of a child. The implications and frustrations expressed during political and policy discussions reflect a broader national debate deeply rooted in the power of family law courts when child custody or abuse and neglect are alleged. Whether in the form of child protection or child custody litigation, the sheer volume and complexity of …

Agree To Disagree: Moving Tennessee Toward Pure No-Fault Divorce, Evan Wright

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

This Note addresses Tennessee's no-fault divorce statute. Currently, married couples are forced to either agree on all issues or prove at least one fault ground. This author contends that the current law imposes an unnecessary burden on litigants, which wastes precious resources that Tennessee families could use for more productive purposes. Moreover, pure no-fault states have not seen a disproportionate rise in divorce rates. Last, pure no-fault divorce better reflects current societal trends and the evolving effect of religious affiliation on how a younger generation defines morality.

Collision Course: State Community Property Laws And Termination Rights Under The Federal Copyright Act--Who Should Have The Right Of Way?, Loren E. Mulraine

Marquette Law Review

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of recapture rights under copyright law, as well as a primer on the difference between common law and community property law as it relates to property rights in a divorce proceeding. The paper will utilize as a case study the dispute between William "Smokey" Robinson and his former spouse, Claudette Robinson, and provide a statutory solution for future disputes where federal copyright law and state community property laws collide at the intersection of copyright terminations. Specifically, should these newly recaptured rights be treated as a new estate and thus not …

In The Shadow Of A Myth: Bargaining For Same-Sex Divorce, Noa Ben-Asher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores a relatively new phenomenon in family law: same-sex divorce. The Article's central claim is that parties to the first wave of same-sex divorces are not effectively bargaining against the backdrop of legal dissolution rules that would govern in the absence of an agreement. In other words, to use Robert Mnookin and Lewis Kornhauser's terminology, they are not "bargaining in the shadow of the law." Instead, the Article argues, many same-sex couples today bargain in the shadow of a myth that same-sex couples are egalitarian—that there are no vulnerable parties or power differentials in same-sex divorce.

The Article …

The Law Of Attorney Fees In Family Law Cases, Robert G. Spector, Carolyn S. Thompson

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Overcoming Biased Views Of Gender And Victimhood In Custody Evaluations When Domestic Violence Is Alleged, Ruth Leah Perrin

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

Law Faculty Publications

In the past year, Virginia courts have addressed a range of family law questions—new and old—that reflect the changing landscape of families and marriage. Questions related to same-sex marriage and divorce have begun to appear on Virginia court dockets, including an important case the Supreme Court of Virginia decided this year with respect to same-sex couples cohabiting and the termination of spousal support. Family law courts also saw shifts in gender norms—wives paying spousal support to their husbands and fathers being awarded physical custody of their children. These legal questions tested the limits of statutory language and helped to expand …

Outliving Love: Marital Estrangement In An African Insurance Market, Casey Golomski

Anthropology

Marital estrangement and formal divorce are vital conjunctures for married women’s kinship relations and life course, where a horizon of future possibilities are revalued and negotiated at the interstices of custom, law, and social and ritual obligations. In this article, after delineating the forms of customary and civil marriage and the possibilities for divorce or estrangement from each, I describe how some married women in Swaziland and South Africa mediate this complex social field for their children and families through pensions and continuing to pay for their partners’ insurance coverage. This was not solely out of avarice to reap future …

Putting The "Remedy" Back In The International Child Abduction Remedies Act - Enforcing Visitation Rights For The Left Behind Parent, Nicole Clark

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that the Second Circuit’s approach is more consistent with the aims of the Hague Convention and the needs of children than the Fourth Circuit’s approach and that ICARA does confer jurisdiction upon federal courts to adjudicate claims for the enforcement of visitation rights under the Hague Convention. Part I discusses the background of the Hague Convention and ICARA and how visitation rights fit into each. Part II discusses the split between the Fourth Circuit and the Second Circuit regarding whether ICARA confers jurisdiction upon federal courts over claims for the enforcement of visitation rights. It further …

The Elimination Of Child “Custody” Litigation: Using Business Branding Techniques To Transform Social Behavior, Elena B. Langan

Pace Law Review

This article discusses how rebranding principles, already being used to alter social behavior in other non-consumer contexts, could be utilized to accomplish the legislative goal to reduce litigation as well as diminish animosity in custody cases. Part II of this article discusses the impetus for a transformation in the way parents view custody disputes. Part III discusses basic branding principles and how companies establish a brand and can successfully change their branding. Part IV explores the evolution of the current custody brand, identifies eight states that have eliminated “custody” and, in some cases, “visitation” from their vernacular, and discusses, in …

Surviving The Borrower: Assumption, Modification, And Access To Mortgage Information After A Death Or Divorce, Sarah Bolling Mancini, Alys Cohen

Pepperdine Law Review

The death of a borrower too often brings the surviving spouse or other heirs to the brink of foreclosure. Transfer of the marital home to a non-borrower spouse through divorce may lead to the same problems. Mortgage servicers tell these successor homeowners that because they are not the borrower on the loan, they are not entitled to any information about the mortgage secured by their home and cannot apply for a loan modification, even if they are struggling with the payments. In fact, successors have a right to information, the right to assume liability for the loan, and the right …

Reflections On "Innovations In Family Dispute Resolution", Deborah Thompson Eisenberg

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Recent Development: Sieglein V. Schmidt: Pursuant To § 1-206(B) Of The Estates And Trusts Article, Artificial Insemination Encompasses In Vitro Fertilization Using Donated Sperm; A Court May Use The Goldberger Factors To Determine Voluntary Impoverishment; A Trial Court Can Issue A Permanent Injunction For Harassment Based On § 1-203(A) Of The Family Law Article., Virginia J. Yeoman

University of Baltimore Law Forum

The Court of Appeals of Maryland held that the term “artificial insemination” includes in vitro fertilization using donated sperm, and that a consenting husband is presumed to be the father of the child born as a result of the procedure. Sieglein v. Schmidt, 447 Md. 647, 652, 136 A.3d 751, 754 (2016). The court also held that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in finding the husband to be voluntarily impoverished or in issuing a permanent injunction based on harassment. Id.