Family Law Commons^™

Siblings In Law, Jill E. Hasday

Vanderbilt Law Review

Family law's intense concentration on marriage and parenthood has left little room for legal attention directed at any other family relationship. The breadth of this exclusion from family law's canon is enormous. Examining the legal treatment of one noncanonical family relationship, whose marginalization in family law is particularly remarkable, can provide a foundation for better understanding the consequences of family law's narrowness. The sibling relationship offers a striking illustration of a crucial, yet legally neglected, family tie. Siblings can give each other support, love, nurturing, and stability. But the law governing children's family relationships focuses almost exclusively on children's ties …

The Combined Impact Of Prwora, Fmla, Irc, Frd, Dppa, And Bapcpa On Single Mothers And Their Children, Pamela Gershuny

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

No abstract provided.

My Daddy's Name Is Donor: Evaluating Sperm Donation Anonymity And Regulation, Mark Ballantyne

Law Student Publications

In Part I, this comment explores the debate on anonymous sperm donation and the current law in the United States. Part II surveys new developments in the regulation of sperm donation internationally and domestically. Part III reviews “My Daddy’s Name is Donor” and how its findings relate to the anonymity debate. Part IV concludes with suggestions regarding the national registry and future regulation of sperm donation in the United States.

Renegotiating The Social Contract, Jennifer S. Hendricks

Michigan Law Review

Despite an economic recession and record levels of personal bankruptcy filings due to healthcare costs, President Obama's healthcare reform initiative sparked a season of protests. A "public option"-not to mention a single-payer system-was off the table even before the discussion began. As the question of the reform package's constitutionality wound its way to the Supreme Court, it became clear that a substantial number of American people do not want their government helping them stay alive. In this climate, it is difficult to imagine an America in which the state is an accepted partner in meeting the challenges and responsibilities of …

Against The New Maternalism, Naomi Mezey, Cornelia T. Pillard

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The biggest challenge for sex equality in the 21st Century is to dismantle inequality between women and men’s family care responsibilities. American law has largely accomplished formal equality in parenting by doing away with explicit gender classifications, along with many of the assumptions that fostered them. In a dramatic change from the mid-20th Century, law relating to family, work, civic participation and their various intersections is now virtually all sex-neutral. As the Supreme Court’s 2003 decision in Nevada Department of Social Services v. Hibbs demonstrates, both Congress and the Court have accepted the feminist critique of sex roles and stereotyping …

Purpose Vs. Power: Parens Patriae And Agency Self-Interest, Daniel L. Hatcher

All Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of human service agencies to serve vulnerable populations such as abused and neglected children derives from the common law doctrine of parens patriae, embodying the inherent role of the state as parent of the country. However, along with this foundational purpose, the parens patriae doctrine also provides power that is illusive to public knowledge and oversight. To maintain their cloak of power, the very agencies created to fulfill the parens patriae obligations — to protect the rights of children — have systematically battled the children’s efforts to claim those rights as their own. Also, the agencies have now …

Teaching Social Justice Lawyering: Systematically Including Community Legal Education In Law School Clinics, Margaret Martin Barry, A. Rachel Camp, Margaret E. Johnson, Catherine F. Klein, Lisa V. Martin

All Faculty Scholarship

There is a body of literature on clinical legal theory that urges a focus in clinics beyond the single client to an explicit teaching of social justice lawyering. This Article adds to this emerging body of work by discussing the valuable role community legal education plays as a vehicle for teaching skills and values essential to single client representation and social justice lawyering. The Article examines the theoretical underpinnings of clinical legal education, community organizing and community education and how they influenced the authors’ design and implementation of community legal education within their clinics. It then discusses two projects designed …

Every Adolescent Deserves A Parent, Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

This article argues that all adolescents, indeed all human beings, deserve at least one parent—one person who takes the good with the bad because that person’s life is intertwined with the child’s. The child matters to the parent in a way that a friend, nephew, or foster child may not. Child welfare professionals must never lose sight of this principle when they recruit, train, and maintain parents for adolescents. The parent can be someone who is already in the young person’s life or someone who has been unable to parent in the past, but is now ready to secure that …

Defined Value Clauses And Fair Market Value, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

In Hendrix the Tax Court considered the issues of whether defined value clauses were the result of arm’s-length transactions and whether they were void as against public policy. The underlying dispute was whether the taxpayers’ transfers of the John H. Hendrix Co. stock were valued at fair market value. With a decision favoring the taxpayers, the defined value clauses in both McCord and Hendrix impede the accurate valuation of taxable gifts to family members and of deductible charitable gifts.

On The Child's Need To Be One's Self, Ya'ir Ronen

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Animus Thick And Thin: The Broader Impact Of The Ninth Circuit Decision In Perry V. Brown, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay is a response to an article by: Eskridge Jr., William N., The Ninth Circuit's Perry Decision and the Constitutional Politics of Marriage Equality, in 64 Stan. L. Rev. Online 93 (2012).

This essay examines the impact of Perry v. Brown, 671 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2012), the first appellate federal court decision on the constitutional validity of marriage exclusion laws. The author argues that the major contribution of the Perry decision is to illuminate the meaning of animus, a term that is sharply contested in Equal Protection jurisprudence, and to explicate its relationship to standards of …

Collaborative Family Law - The Big Picture, Kim David Kurodason, Donna Beck Weaver, David Kuroda

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Collaborative family law is an innovative intervention designed to bring legal, psychological and financial expertise to assist couples who face divorce. It's non-adversarial and problem-solving setting facilitates the transition to a healthy, post-divorce life for the family. Not surprisingly, clients are very satisfied. How does this all work and should you consider collaborative family law in your practice? Following presentation was made on February 20, 2004 at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts California Chapter Conference and provides an introduction to the fundamentals of collaborative family law, the fastest growing practice area in family law.

The Collaborative Law Process For Prenuptial Agreements, Donna Beck Weaver

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article posits that the prevailing adversarial model for negotiating prenuptial agreements deters many from considering them, and limits the benefits that might otherwise be achieved for couples by prenuptial planning. This article posits that the collaborative law process offers an effective method for developing prenuptial agreements, one that is far better suited to the needs of persons who are about to marry than the traditional model. This article concludes that the standard of care for prenuptial agreements should mandate the use of the collaborative process for most cases.

Collaborative Family Law, Pauline H. Tesler

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Collaborative Law appears to meet significant needs both among family law clients and among the lawyers who assist them through divorce. As will be discussed more fully below, clients appear to want the advantages of a contained, settlement-oriented, creative, private, respectful process without sacrificing the benefits of having a committed legal advocate at their sides. For that reason Collaborative Law appeals to clients who may hesitate to commit to a dispute resolution process facilitated solely by a neutral mediator. And, while many family lawyers suffer considerable professional angst as a consequence of their awareness that family law courts are neither …

Moving Forward Together: The Lgbt Community And The Family Mediation Field , Mark J. Hanson

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This is a time of great change for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender ("LGBT") community. Members of the LGBT community have gained increased awareness and rights. The United States Supreme Court found state sodomy laws that ban same-sex sexual activity unconstitutional. Thirty-three states have enacted hate crime legislation that protects members of the LGBT community. Recently from the streets of San Francisco, to New Platz, New York and to Sandoval County, New Mexico, LGBT couples have received marriage licenses despite being prohibited by state law. Other states, such as Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont have enacted legislation giving LGBT couples …

In The Aftermath Of The Terri Schiavo Case: Resolving End-Of-Life Disputes Through Alternative Dispute Resolution, Alisa L. Geller

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Imagine yourself the proud parent of an adult daughter. You have spent many years nurturing your precious child so that she may excel in the world. Just as all of your dreams for her are coming true, the news no parent wants to hear was delivered. Your daughter lost control of her car, the vehicle overturned and she was found lying face down in a ditch. You gasped. You expected the worst. A tragic end to a life yet lived. Then, the good news was delivered. You breathed a sigh of relief. You learned she survived. She was in a …

Negotiating The "Labor Of Love": How Resources, Time, And Gender Shape Parenting Agreements, Marlena Studer

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law Firms As Defendants: Family Responsibilities Discrimination In Legal Workplaces, Joan C. Williams, Stephanie Bornstein, Diana Reddy, Betsy A. Williams

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Supporting Children, Balancing Lives, Katharine K. Baker

Pepperdine Law Review

This paper examines how U.S. child support policy validates traditional divisions of labor and thereby hinders individual attempts to achieve an acceptable work/family balance. It argues that by using the household as the relevant unit of measurement for child support purposes, family law doctrine legitimates the specialization contracts that arise within households. These specialization contracts, used most extensively in wealthy, elite households, undermine attempts to distribute caretaking and provider roles more equally between parents. The article suggest that by dispensing with the household as the relevant unit of measurement and treating all parents individually, each with a responsibility to caretake …

Creating The Perfect Case: The Constitutionality Of Retroactive Application Of The Domestic Partner Rights And Responsibilities Act Of 2003, Ryan M. Deam

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defense Of Marriage Acts: A Fifty State Survey, Erica A. Holzer

Student Scholarship

This document includes every DoMA statute and constitutional amendment in all 50 states in alphabetical order as of January 31, 2012. The text of these laws is provided, as well as a link to the statute or constitutional amendment on Westlaw.

Doma Statutes And Same-Sex Divorce Litigation, Erica A. Holzer

Student Scholarship

For the purposes of writing a article on same-sex divorce, it became necessary to categorize the various state Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA) statutes and constitutional amendments to analyze how each type of DoMA might handle a petition for same-sex divorce. In doing so, I developed six different categories: (1) No DoMA; (2) Definitional DoMAs; (3) DoMAs that void same-sex marriages; (4) DoMAs that explicitly deny benefits of marriage; (5) DoMAs that declare that there is no same-sex marriage to dissolve; and (6) DoMAs that explicitly prohibit same-sex divorce. This document shows which state DoMAs fall into each of these …

A Holistic Approach To Estate Planning: Paramount In Protecting Your Family, Your Wealth, And Your Legacy, Melissa Street

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This comment will take an in-depth look at the art of holistic estate planning. Part II will walk through an overview of how the holistic estate planning process works. Part III will discuss certain familial circumstances that have the most to gain from the holistic approach. Part IV will give a brief overview of other alternatives to litigation and their disadvantages. Part V will conclude this article.

Mediating Child Custody Disputes For High Conflict Couples: Structuring Mediation To Accommodate The Needs & Desires Of Litigious Parents , Jessica J. Sauer

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

While alternative dispute resolution has become widely accepted in recent years, several types of legal disagreements continue to be regarded as unsuitable for mediation. Child custody disputes between "high conflict" couples are one such category. Unfortunately, the process of litigating custody disputes between high conflict couples can be more damaging to children than the parents' actual divorce. Instead of dismissing mediation out of hand because of the difficulties in helping these parents see eye-to-eye, scholars might be wise to reevaluate the potential for mediating these disputes. This article will attempt to advance this idea in several ways. To begin, it …

The Historical, Jurisprudential, And Empirical Wisdom Of Parental Responsibility Laws, Eve M. Brank, Leroy Scott

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The parent-child relationship is woven deep within historical and contemporary culture, but strong retributive ideals have led to blaming parents because of their presumed vicarious role in juvenile crime. The current article will discuss the history, forms, legal challenges, and empirical research related to parental involvement laws in the United States. The parent-child relationship provides the historical framework behind the separate juvenile justice parens patriae system; however, with the juvenile justice system not as successful as originally imagined, blame has shifted to the parents. We examine the potential constitutional implications of enacting and enforcing parental involvement statutes and ordinances and …

Securing Civil Protection Orders For Teens When Laws Ignore Teens, Lisa V. Martin

Faculty Publications

Despite the pervasiveness of violence in teen relationships, civil protection order statutes largely ignore teens. The accessibility of protection orders for teens depends primarily on the scope of their rights to standing and legal capacity to pursue claims for protection. Because states largely fail to detail expressly the circumstances under which teens are accorded standing to seek protection orders and legal capacity to represent their own interests in related court proceedings, the accessibility of protection orders for teens in most states remains in flux.

This article explores legal principles and policy arguments that support the extension of standing and legal …

Same-Sex Marriage: Strengthening The Legal Shield Or Sharpening The Sword? The Impact Of Legalizing Marriage On Child Custody/Visitation And Child Support For Same-Sex Couples, Jason C. Beekman

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Marriage, Fundamental Premises, And The California, Connecticut, And Iowa Supreme Courts, Monte Neil Stewart, Jacob D. Briggs, Julie Slater

BYU Law Review

The highest courts in California, Connecticut, and Iowa recently held that the constitutional norm of equality requires the redefinition of marriage from “the union of a man and a woman” to “the union of any two persons.” The argument leading to that holding, like all arguments, proceeds from premises that the argument does not prove but that serve as the starting point for reasoning. Those premises range from the nature of contemporary American marriage to the equivalence of the pre- and post-redefinition marriage institutions, to the social costs, if any, resulting from redefinition, and to marriage’s relationship with other social …

“Can They Do That?”: Why Religious Parents And Communities May Fear The Future Regarding State Interests And Custodial Law, Keith W. Barlow

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Standing Of Intervenor-Defendants In Public Law Litigation, Matthew I. Hall

Scholarly Works

Unless the plaintiff has a personal stake in the outcome, Article III of the United States Constitution requires federal courts to dismiss a plaintiff’s claim for lack of standing. That much is clearly established by decades of precedent. Less understood, however, is the degree to which Article III also requires defendants to possess a personal stake. The significance of defendant standing often goes unnoticed in case law and scholarship, because the standing of the defendant in most lawsuits is readily apparent:any defendant against whom the plaintiff seeks a remedy has a personal interest in defending against the plaintiff’s claim.

But …