Family Law Commons^™

God Bless The Child?: The Use Of Religion As A Factor In Child Custody And Adoption Proceedings, 58 Fordham L. Rev. 383 (1989), Donald L. Beschle

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ohio's Child Support Guidelines: A Springboard Or A Crutch, Lois J. Cole

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to clarify the ramifications of Ohio's Child Support Guidelines and the 1988 Amendments. An examination of Ohio's child support law will necessarily begin with the background of federal child support legislation beginning with the Social Security Act of 1935. Mandates from this legislation, and its succeeding amendments over fifty years, are followed resulting in an examination of Ohio's Child Support Guidelines. Next, this Note focuses on the importance of judicial discretion and its role in the successful implementation of the Guidelines as well as whether Ohio's Guidelines should be used as a rebuttable presumption …

Within The Best Interests Of The Child: The Factor Of Parental Status In Custody Disputes Arising From Surrogacy, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article explores the significance of parental status in the determination of custody and the question of whether the legal relationship of parent and child is also subject to public policy limitations. Part II outlines the essential elements of surrogacy. Part III examines the relationship of the best interests test and its preference for custody with a parent. Part IV discusses the surrogacy contract and the contracting parties. Part V briefly discusses the various constitutional arguments necessary to determine whether parental status is properly viewed as an issue of public policy. Part VI presents public policy considerations that states will …

The Uniform Custodial Trust Act: An Alternative To Adult Guardianship, Louis A. Mezzullo, Michael C. Roach

University of Richmond Law Review

The problems associated with court appointed guardianship are axiomatic. The public nature of the court proceeding required for appointment of a guardian is of concern to many families who become involved in the process. The expense and delay associated with the original hearing, as well as subsequent hearings that may be necessary in the operation of the guardianship, are also a great disadvantage of guardianship. As a means of managing property, guardianship is cumbersome, expensive and inflexible. Recently, stories of the expense and potential abuse of guardianship for adults have found their way into the popular press. While most people …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Individual Entitlement To The Financial Benefits Of A Professional Degree: An Empirical Study Of The Attitudes And Expectations Of Married Professional Students And Their Spouses, Rebecca Redosh Eisner, Ruth Zimmerman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note describes the case law that delineated the factors examined in the study. Those factors are the financial support provided by the supporting spouse, the extent of personal sacrifice made by the supporting spouse, the length of the marriage and corresponding accumulated assets of the marriage at the time of the divorce, and the relative earning capacities of the two parties after the divorce. Part II discusses the design of the study, and specifically how we manipulated these factors in hypothetical vignettes to measure reactions to the factors. Part III presents the results and our conclusions …

Locked In And Locked Out: Reflections In The History Of Divorce Law Reform In New York State, Isabel Marcus

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Domestic Relations, Lawrence D. Diehl

University of Richmond Law Review

In 1989, the Virginia General Assembly enacted significant legislation authorizing the creation of an experimental family court. The experimental program is an attempt to examine the unification of the circuit court and the juvenile and domestic relations district court's jurisdiction of divorce cases. The program's goals include the elimination of duplicate hearings, the savings of client costs, and the elimination of de novo appeals.

Charleston Policy: Substance Or Abuse, The , Kimani Paul-Emile

Faculty Scholarship

In 1989, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) adopted a policy that, according to subjective criteria, singled out for drug testing, certain women who sought prenatal care and childbirth services would be tested for prohibited substances. Women who tested positive were arrested, incarcerated and prosecuted for crimes ranging from misdemeanor substance possession to felony substance distribution to a minor. In this Article, the Author argues that by intentionally targeting indigent Black women for prosecution, the MUSC Policy continued the United States legacy of their systematic oppression and resulted in the criminalizing of Black Motherhood.

In Re Grant: Where Does Washington Stand On Artificial Nutrition And Hydration?, Stephen P. Vanderhoef

Seattle University Law Review

The Washington Supreme Court in In re Grantsought to determine whether life sustaining treatment could be legally withheld from a terminally ill, non-comatose, incompetent individual. In its December 1987 slip opinion, a majority of the court expanded on its previous decisions empowering third parties, including guardians, families, and physicians, to withhold and withdraw life sustaining treatment from incompetent individuals. This was accomplished by characterizing artificial nutrition and hydration as removable, life sustaining medical treatment. The court also gave third parties the power to remove artificial nutrition and hydration before the incompetent individual in question slips into a coma or …

Aids And Divorce, Andrew Schepard

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

AIDS is the greatest public health challenge of the late twentieth century. It is a frightening disease, inevitably fatal to its victims. We do not know who among us carries the virus that causes AIDS; symptoms may not become visible for years after infection. Yet, we do know that the numbers of people potentially afflicted are staggering. There is no cure, no miracle vaccine, in sight.

Inevitably, some people infected with the AIDS virus, will be married, parents, and involved in disintegrating relationships with their spouses. AIDS-related problems will be a focal point of their divorces. Indeed, such cases are …

Aids: Perspective On The American Family, Raymond C. O'Brien

Scholarly Articles

This paper will focus on the probable impact of AIDS upon family law and family issues in America. Although it is still too early to tell precisely what effect AIDS will have in these areas, it is essential for lawyers and other professionals to begin a dialogue now in order to face the many challenges which lie ahead as the disease continues to spread and impact family relationships.

Among the many subjects discussed below is the likely trend that fear of infection and death will restrict the societal demand and acceptance of new definitions of family. In order to provide …

Cessation Of Family Violence: Deterrence And Dissuasion, Jeffrey Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

Family violence research has only recently begun to investigate desistance. Recent developments in the study of behaviors other than family violence, such as the use of addictive substances, suggest that common processes can be identified in the cessation of disparate behaviors involving diverse populations and occurring in different settings. Desistance is the outcome of processes that begin with aversive experiences leading to a decision to stop. Desistance apparently follows legal sanctions in nearly three spouse abuse cases in four, but the duration of cessation is unknown beyond short study periods. Batterers with shorter, less severe histories have a higher probability …

Removing Nonconforming Child Support Payments From The Shadow Of The Rule Against Retroactive Modification: A Proposal For Judicial Discretion, John Eric Smithburn

Journal Articles

Whether and under what circumstances a parent who is ordered to pay child support is entitled to credit against a child support arrearage is one of the most vexing problems for the family court. Some courts consistently demand strict adherence to a child support order and do not permit retroactive modification. Other courts have allowed retroactive modification of support decrees when equity dictates. A recent amendment to the Social Security Act, however, prohibits retroactive modification of child support orders, leaving a number of unanswered questions concerning credit requests for nonconforming support payments.

This Article explores the problems created by nonconforming …

Parental Separation And The Child Custody Decision: Toward A Reconception, David G. Duff, Roxanne Mykitiuk

All Faculty Publications

Contemporary debates regarding the appropriate way to resolve custody and access disputes reflect deeply rooted conceptions of both the family and the proper relationship between the family and the state. The prevailing "best interests of the child" test and judicial presumptions favouring sole custody embody a traditional definition of the family and a communitarian image of familial relationships.Conversely, current joint custody legislation adopts a liberal-contractual paradigm, in which the family is viewed as a joint partnership and children are conceived as assets to be equally divided upon termination ofthe spousal relationship. The authors reject both notions of the family and …

Book Review. Abortion And Divorce In Western Law By Mary Ann Glendon, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this book, Professor Mary Ann Glendon contends that the American commitment to individualism and rights has deprived our law of compassion in the areas of abortion and divorce. She argues that while western European countries tell their citizens that their decisions about family are important to the larger society, American law takes extreme and damaging positions that isolate people at times when the community has an interest in their acts. Much of the book is a gentle and persuasive reminder that America lacks any semblance of a national family policy, an omission that looks heartless in comparison to Europe. …

The Need For A Business Or Payroll Records Affidavit For Use In Child Support Matters, J. Thomas Sullivan

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Who Decides--The Next Abortion Issue: A Discussion Of Fathers' Rights, Maria F. Walters

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Family Court: An Historical Survey, Merril Sobie

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The New York Family Court this year celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. Hailed as an "experimental" tribunal, designed to resolve society's most intractable problems, including family dissolution, delinquency and child neglect, the court has been perceived as a radical development which altered the then existing legal rules governing family affairs. The Family Court Act indeed incorporates several creative provisions. But the court's foundations were built upon solid jurisprudential underpinnings, principles which had evolved over the course of the preceding century. Establishment of the court was neither radical nor experimental; in reality, Family Court represents the latest increment in the development of …

Forced Sex In Battering Relationships: An Ethnographic Investigation, Leigh Hofheimer

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This research examines the complex problem of forced sex in battering relationships. Interviewing eleven women in a battered women's shelter in a southeastern city, I focused on both their perceptions of forced sex and its effects on their self-esteem, expectations and body-image.

Based on the interviews I conclude that forced sex needs a broader definition than the traditionally accepted definition of rape. In addition, the victims' memories of earlier incidents of physical abuse during sex may influence their perceptions of when they are being forced. This study suggests that future researchers and members of the helping profession should include the …

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.

Law, Science, And History: Reflections Upon In The Best Interests Of The Child, Peggy C. Davis

Michigan Law Review

A Review of In the Best Interests of the Child by Joseph Goldstein, Anna Freud, Albert J. Solnit, and Sonja Goldstein

Legislatures And Legal Change: The Reform Of Divorce Law, Carl E. Schneider

Michigan Law Review

A Review of A Silent Revolution: Routine Policy Making and the Transformation of Divorce Law in the United States by Herbert Jacob

Equating A Stepparent's Rights And Liabilities Vis-A-Vis Custody Visitation And Support Upon Dissolution Of The Marriage With Those Of The Natural Parent - An Equitable Solution To A Growing Dilemma, Mary E. Wright-Hunt

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

British Development In Alternative Dispute Resolution In Divorce, David Carey Miller

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Comment, Contracting For Security: Paying Married Women What They've Earned, Katharine K. Baker

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Dissent On Joint Custody, Jana B. Singer, William L. Reynolds

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Family Law, Beverly Pekala, Paul Andre Katz

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

More Than Mere Child's Play: International Parental Abduction Of Children, Elizabeth C. Mcdonald

Penn State International Law Review (1982 - 2011)

Divorce is a traumatic time. It is especially traumatic for children who are abducted by a parent. This comment examines the international abductions of children and the international conventions designed to address these problems. Further, the author sets forth steps and gives advice for parents and attorneys caught in an international abduction case.

Domestic Relations - Post-Separation Sexual Intercourse Precludes Enforcement Of Agreement Requiring Parties To Live Separate And Apart - Higgins V. Higgins, Gerald H. Groon Jr.

Campbell Law Review

This Note will identify how the majority in Higgins analyzed prior case law to derive a legal definition for the term "separate and apart." This Note will also serve as a caveat to the legal community. The Higgins decision resulted from the couple's failure to abide by the terms of a condition precedent that had been inserted into a property settlement provision of the separation agreement. The decision should be confined to its narrow facts. The case does however deserve close scrutiny. Application by subsequent courts of the Higgins ruling as precedent for the proposition that isolated acts of sexual …