Family Law Commons^™

Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

To the extent that family law is governed by statute, all families are treated as though they are the same. This is of course consistent with the equal protection guarantees of the US Constitution as well as those of the states. However, in our pluralistic society, all families are not alike. At birth, some children are born to wealthy, married parents who will always put the children’s interests first and will never engage in domestic violence. Many laws benefit these children, while, according to some academics, they either further disadvantage other children or at best ignore their needs.

This presentation …

Granting Exemptions From Legal Duties: When Are They Warranted And What Is The Place Of Religion?, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

In what follows, I focus on when exemptions from legal duties are called for and whether religion should be a crucial ingredient. I concentrate especially on the present controversy over same-sex marriage, and how far people and organizations should be required to afford those couples equal status. But other kinds of exemptions can help us understand various general questions and provide key insights about this intense concern of our time.

My basic conclusions are these: religious convictions and practices do matter but only sometimes should they be legally distinguished from other bases. Considering all that is at stake, certain exemptions …

Family Formation And The Home, Pamela Laufer-Ukeles, Shelly Kreiczer-Levy

Kentucky Law Journal

In this article, we consider the relevance of home sharing in family formation. When couples or groups of persons are recognized as families, they are afforded significant benefits and given certain obligations by the law. Families have their own category of laws, rights, and obligations. Currently, the law of family formation and recognition is in a state of flux. Although in some respects the defining legal lines of the family have been well settled for centuries around blood and the formal legal ties of marriage and parenthood, in significant ways, the family form has been fundamentally altered over the past …

Same-Sex Marriage Litigation And Children's Right To Be Queer, Clifford Rosky

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines how lawyers and judges have framed the question of children’s queerness in litigation over samesex marriage. First, it argues that in United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, the US Supreme Court invoked the tropes of dignity, injury, and immutability to set the outer limits of sexual liberty for both children and adults. Next, the essay looks back to the early work of queer theorists, legal scholars, and lawyers to unearth a more promising vision of law’s relationship to children’s queerness. By juxtaposing how two judges approached the possibility of the gay child in Utah and …

Gay Marriage And The Problem Of Property, Andrea B. Carroll, Christopher K. Odinet

Journal Articles

The Supreme Court's gay marriage decision in Obergefell has been hailed in almost all corners as a milestone in American jurisprudence. From topics as varied as adoption and taxes, a myriad of rights have now descended upon gay couples as a result of the Court's ruling. In this Commentary, we explore the little discussed downsides of the decision when it comes to the property rights and debts of the spouses. This is particularly important when considering the rights of third parties and their settled expectations in the context of retroactivity, as well the ways in which the Court's decision may …

Tax, Don't Ban: A Comparative Look At Harmful But Legitimate Islamic Family Practices Actionable Under Tort Law, Benjamin Shmueli

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Massive migration of Muslims to the West in recent years has raised the question whether Shari'a--Islamic law--should apply to Muslim couples living in these countries. The issue is particularly acute when it comes to family life and the possibility of using tort law in cases of harmful religious practices that are permitted by Muslim law but are contrary to Western liberal values. Using tort law as a soft solution, that is, taxing that practice rather than banning it by criminal sanctions, may be a balanced and efficient solution, at least in some cases. The Article demonstrates this view--tax, don't ban--through …

Religion And Child Custody, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

This piece draws upon divorce pleadings and other records to show how indications of religion (or disaffiliation) that appear in custody agreements and orders (called “parenting plans” in both states studied) affect the course of the proceedings and legal activities over the five years following divorce filing. Some of the apparent findings are normative, but most are merely descriptive and some may be correlative rather than caused by the indicated concern about religion. While parenting plans are accepted by courts only when they are in the best interests of the child (at least in theory), the child’s independent religious needs …

Differential Response: Misrepresentation Of Cps Investigation And Case Fact Finding, Frank E. Vandervort, Ronald C. Hughes

Articles

Traditionally, a host of necessary case fact-finding responsibilities and activities has been used by public Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies to ensure that they can achieve mandates to protect children from maltreatment as well as to strengthen and preserve the families of atrisk children. The primary CPS case fact-finding activities include risk assessment, investigation (both CPS and forensic), and family assessment. Information collected while engaged in any one of these three activities will often be relevant and important to the others. However, each case fact-finding activity also requires specific inquiry to elicit information that is essential to achieve its distinct …

Robbing The Cradle: The Use Of Mediation In Parental Rights Termination With Evidence Of Drug Abuse By The Mother, M. Katherine Kerbs

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Comment will explore the use of mediation in termination of parental rights proceedings where there is evidence of drug abuse by the parents. First, this Comment will give an overview of termination proceedings and examine a specific statute’s guidelines for termination. Then, this Comment will provide an overview of mediation and its uses in family law. Finally, this Comment will argue for increased use of mediation in termination of parental rights cases where there is evidence of drug abuse by the mother.

Thailand's Ban On Commercial Surrogacy: Why Thailand Should Regulate, Not Attempt To Eradicate, Allison L. Zimmerman

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

International commercial surrogacy is when a person or couple from one country hires a surrogate in a different country. In recent years, this form of reproductive tourism has been a booming industry in Thailand due to the lack of meaningful regulation, relatively low cost, and unavailability in other countries. After a string of scandals involving Thai surrogacy arrangements arose, however, the Thai government enacted the Protection for Children Born Through Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act (the “ART Act”), prohibiting Thai commercial surrogacy from serving foreign clients, and only allowing Thai heterosexual couples to make use of surrogacy arrangements. As a result, …

From Baby M To Baby M(Anji): Regulating International Surrogacy Agreements, Yehezkel Margalit

Journal of Law and Policy

In 1985, when Kim Cotton became Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother, Europe was exposed to the issue of surrogacy for the first time on a large scale. Three years later, in 1988, the famous case of Baby M drew the attention of the American public to surrogacy as well. These two cases implicated fundamental ethical and legal issues regarding domestic surrogacy and triggered a fierce debate about motherhood, child-bearing, and the relationship between procreation, science, and commerce. These two cases exemplified the debate regarding domestic surrogacy—a debate that has now been raging for decades. A new ethical and legal debate …

Genetic Essentialism In Family Law, Jennifer S. Hendricks

Publications

No abstract provided.

Anderson V. Sanchez 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 34 (Apr. 28 2016), Cassandra Ramey

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Supreme Court of Nevada held that the doctrine of mutual mistake is not grounds for rescission of a contract when the party bears the risk of mistake. The party bears the risk of mistake if the party is aware at the time of the formation of the contract that they only have limited knowledge of the facts to which the mistake relates, but treats that knowledge as sufficient, the court will allocate the risk of mistake to that party.

Griffith V. Gonzales-Alpizar, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 38 (May 26, 2016), Michael Hua

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court held that under NRS 125.040, a district court has the power to grant attorney fees pendente lite for appeals in divorce actions.

Fundamental Rights In A Post-Obergefell World, Peter Nicolas

Articles

In this Article, I identify and critically examine three substantive criticisms raised by the dissents in the Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down state laws and constitutional provisions barring same-sex couples from marrying within the state or having their out-of-state marriages recognized by the state. First, that the majority improperly framed the right at issue broadly as the right to marriage instead of narrowly as the right to same-sex marriage, conflicting with the Court's holding in Washington v. Glucksberg that in fundamental rights cases the right at issue must be framed narrowly, and in …

Schofield V. State, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 26 (Apr. 21, 2016), Kristian Kaskla

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that (1) Nevada’s first-degree kidnapping statute NRS 200.310(1)'s "intent to keep" language is ambiguous; (2) NRS 200.310(1) requires proof that the accused intended to keep the minor for a protracted period of time or permanently; and (3) reversal is warranted because there is insufficient evidence to support appellant's first-degree kidnapping conviction under the proper legal standard.

2015 Survey Of Rhode Island Law: Cases And Public Laws Of Note, Roger Williams University Law Review Staff

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Maryland's Family Divisions Are A Model For Change, Barbara A. Babb, Gloria Danziger, Michele H. Hong-Polansky

All Faculty Scholarship

In fiscal year 2014, 43 percent of all cases filed in Maryland’s trial court of general jurisdiction (the circuit court) were family law cases (Court Operations Department, 2014: CC-5). Historically, Maryland courts, like many states’ family justice systems, lacked a uniform structure to consolidate family law issues for an individual family. As a result, families often faced multiple hearings before different judges in different courtrooms to address a variety of issues, such as divorce, domestic violence, delinquency, and child abuse/neglect. This system created tremendous hardship for families (particularly low-income families, many of whom were self-represented litigants) and resulted in fragmented …

Understanding Your Domestic Relations Rights In Virginia, 2016-2017, Julie Ellen Mcconnell

Law Faculty Publications

The Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association has published this booklet to help you understand the general legal circumstances that you may face in resolving domestic relations problems under Virginia law. Each person faces unique circumstances that may not be specifically addressed in a broad overview. This booklet is not intended to provide specific advice to you or to address your specific situation. You should use this document only as an introduction to understanding your legal rights.

This booklet is based on laws in effect in Virginia on July 1, 2016. Because laws are always subject to change, you should consult …

The Return Of Coverture, Allison Anna Tait

Law Faculty Publications

Once, the notion that husbands and wives were equal partners in marriage seemed outlandish and unnatural. Today, the marriage narrative has been reversed and the prevailing attitude is that marriage has become an increasingly equitable institution. This is the story that Justice Kennedy told in Obergefell v. Hodges, in which he described marriage as an evolving institution that has adapted in response to social change such that discriminatory marriage rules no longer apply. Coverture exemplifies this change: marriage used to be deeply shaped by coverture rules and now it is not. While celebrating the demise of coverture, however, the …

Inequity In Private Child Custody Litigation, Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the history and implications of a two-tiered system for adjudicating matrimonial-as opposed to nonmatrimonial- custody matters. As the author uncovered by calling every clerk's office in every major city in the country, matrimonial matters are under a different jurisdiction or part of court in nine states.' This differential treatment has implications for the outcome of private custody cases. It also reflects a bias in the administration of justice, based on race and socioeconomic class. Perhaps most importantly, it causes the government and other outside parties (such as court appointed guardians ad litem) to be more involved …

Marital Property, Margaret F. Brinig

Book Chapters

The International Survey of Family Law is the International Society of Family Law's annual review of developments in family law across the world.

The 2016 edition covers developments in over 20 countries written by leading academics and family law experts. Each article is accompanied by a French language abstract. The 2016 Survey contains contributions from a diverse selection of countries where there have been important developments in family law, including: Abortion in Chile, Recent Developments in Korean Adult Guardianship Law, Islamic Law Mode of Estate Distribution in South Africa, The Reform of the Swiss Law on Child Support, Marital Property …

Until The Client Speaks: Reviving The Legal-Interest Model For Preverbal Children, Lisa Kelly, Alicia Levezu

Articles

This article seeks to revive and develop further the concept of legalinterest advocacy, which was first introduced by the American Bar Association in 1996. This overlooked model offers a workable alternative to both the best-interest and substituted-judgment representation models for preverbal clients. Through legal-interest advocacy, attorneys for preverbal children are charged with ensuring that the many rights given to infants are enforced, while withdrawing from attorneys the ability to impose their values on the child client. This article outlines how legal-interest advocacy representation can ensure that a child's legal rights are protected and preserved until the child client can speak …

Would've, Could've, Should've: Custodial Standing Of Non-Biological Same-Sex Parents For Children Born Before Marriage Equality, Frank Aiello

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

The Guardian Ad Litem As The Child's Privilege Holder, Starla Doyal

University of Colorado Law Review

Children in therapy have a strong interest in maintaining the confidentiality of communications with their therapists. Without the assurance of confidential communications, children may not be as open with their therapists, which can make therapy less effective. Although children have privilege rights to their psychotherapist-patient communications just as adults do, their parents generally hold and exercise that privilege. Many courts have recognized that a parent should not hold a child's privilege when the parent and child have divergent interests. This raises the question of who should hold the privilege in the parent's place. In L.A.N. v. L.M.B., the Colorado Supreme …

Dna And Distrust, Kerry Abrams, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past three decades, government regulation and funding of DNA testing has reshaped the use of genetic evidence across various fields, including criminal law, family law, and employment law. Courts have struggled with questions of when and whether to treat genetic evidence as implicating individual rights, policy trade-offs, or federalism problems. We identify two modes of genetic testing: identification testing, used to establish a person’s identity, and predictive testing, which seeks to predict outcomes for a person. Judges and lawmakers have often drawn a bright line at predictive testing, while allowing uninhibited identity testing. The U.S. Supreme Court in …

The Puzzle Of Family Law Pluralism, Erez Aloni

All Faculty Publications

Family law is succumbing to pluralism. Scholars have celebrated this trend as a desirable outcome of the struggle for marriage equality. And a pluralistic family law seems to offer distinct benefits: more regimes than just marriage, and greater room for choice within each regime (manifest by more types of legally enforceable intrafamilial contracts). This Article exposes counterintuitive facts that lead to a surprising conclusion: the legal changes that scholars tout as increasing pluralism eviscerate the substance of the choices families are permitted to make.

The policies that appear to extend choice within each regime, in fact, mask what I call …

How Dramatic Shifts In Perceptions Of Parenting Have Exposed Families, Free-Range Or Otherwise, To State Intervention: A Common Law Tort Approach To Redefining Child Neglect, David Manno

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

They['Ve] Got Eyes In The Sky: How The Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act Governs Body Camera Use In Public Schools, Sarah Pierce West

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Meyer, Pierce, And The History Of The Entire Human Race: Barbarism, Social Progress, And (The Fall And Rise Of) Parental Rights, Jeffrey Shulman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Long before the Supreme Court’s seminal parenting cases took a due process Lochnerian turn, American courts had been working to fashion family law doctrine on the premise that parents are only entrusted with custody of the child, and then only as long as they meet their fiduciary duty to take proper care of the child. With its progressive, anti-patriarchal orientation, this jurisprudence was in part a creature of its time, reflecting the evolutionary biases of the emerging fields of sociology, anthropology, and legal ethnohistory. In short, the courts embraced the new, “scientific” view that social “progress” entails the decline and, …