Family Law Commons^™

Marital Status And Eligibility For Federal Statutory Income Benefits: A Historical Survey, Marjorie Dick Rombauer

Washington Law Review

In an era when attitudes toward marriage institutions are changing and it has become a truism that governmentally dispensed benefits constitute "the new property," the extent to which marital status is a determinant of the right to receive such benefits is a subject of particular interest. The purpose of this article is to survey that subject. More specifically, this article will trace congressional and administrative efforts to arrive at acceptable definitions of who should be treated as a wife/widow (or husband/widower), so as to be entitled to particular statutory benefits, and similar efforts to define when the status- relationship has …

Dissolution Of Marriage—Jurisdiction Over Nondomiciliary Service Members: Time To Adopt A New Jurisdictional Analysis—In Re Marriage Of Ways, 85 Wn. 2d 693, 538 P.2d 1225 (1975); Wash. Rev. Code § 26.09.030 (1975), Bruce A. Robertson

Washington Law Review

On November 30, 1973, Raymond A. Ways, a member of the United States Navy on active military duty, filed a petition for dissolution of marriage in a Washington superior court. Ways had been stationed in Washington aboard the USS Enterprise (then undergoing repairs at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington) since October 1973, but neither he nor his wife had ever been domiciled in Washington. Ways filed his petition in reliance upon R.C.W. § 26.09.030, a statute allowing members of the armed forces stationed in Washington to petition for dissolution of marriage in the state. On February 2, 1974, …

Marital Agreements In Contemplation Of Divorce, Barbara Klarman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Romantic notions that marriage is forever are beginning to give way to the more realistic assessments that marriages indeed may not last. The pressure has been mounting for ways to provide economic planning to parties in the relatively likely event that their marriages terminate in divorce. The purpose of this article is to focus on one method of obtaining such planning: the marital agreement setting forth the support and property distribution which the parties would follow in the event of divorce. This article will review the law regarding marital agreements in contemplation of divorce as it exists in the United …

Illegitimates And Equal Protection, David Hallissey

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Illegitimates often have been discriminated against by legislatures in the enactment of statutes, as well as by courts which have sanctioned such legislation. This article will examine the judicial response to legislative treatment of the illegitimate in social insurance, loss compensation, and intestacy statutes. Emphasizing the Supreme Court's analysis of the legal status of illegitimates in terms of the equal protection clause, it will also discuss how the principle of equal protection may be applied in order to reduce the number of illegitimates denied the benefit and protection of the law.

The State Vs. The Family: Does Intervention Really Spare The Child?, Susan R. Rogers

Mercer Law Review

Courts all across this country are attempting to balance the interests of children and parents. It has long been the general rule that natural parents, if considered fit, have the right to the custody of their children, uninterrupted even by a state exercising its parens-patriae power. This right of the natural parent has traditionally taken precedence over the interests of everyone else, including the best interests of the child.

There has been a recent trend, however, toward paying more attention to what the court feels is in the best interests of the child. Although the law is still weighted in …

Consent Of 'Unfit' Parents Needed For Adoption—Unless Their Rights Are First Terminated, Susan W. Gibson

Mercer Law Review

In Johnson v. Eidson, the Georgia Supreme Court held that "moral unfitness" of natural parents is not an exception to the statutory prerequisite that natural parents consent to their children's adoption.

The maternal grandparents of Lewis and Jimmy Lynn Johnson had petitioned the court to allow them to adopt their grandchildren without the consent of the natural parents. Their petition was based on (1) their temporary custody of the children, which was granted by a juvenile court after the children had been found in a condition of neglect; (2) abandonment by the natural parents; and (3) the unfit and …

Prior To Accrual, Military Retirement Pension Earned During Coverture Is Community Property Subject To Division At Time Of Divorce., Mary Elizabeth Carmody

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Apportionment Of Community Property Interests In Prospective Military Retirement Benefits Upon Divorce., Charles H. Rennick

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Support V. Alimony In Virginia: It's Time To Use The Revised States, Joel H. Holt

University of Richmond Law Review

The concept of alimony has been a traditional fixture in the law of divorce ever since the early common law. Since the church was the foundation for the institution of marriage, it was only logical that the separation of husband and wife was a matter for the ecclesiastical courts in early England. Ecclesiastical decrees, however, did not dissolve the marriage but only resulted in a "legal" separation, commonly known as a divorce a mensa et thoro. In making such a decree, it was obviously necessary for the courts to make a discretionary award of support for the wife since at …

Child Abuse: The Role Of Adoption As Preventative Measure, 10 J. Marshall J. Prac. & Proc. 546 (1977), Mark S. Kaizen

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Guide To The New D.C. Marriage And Divorce Law, Harvey L. Zuckman

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Post-Majority Child Support In Washington, George T. Cowan

Seattle University Law Review

Simply stated, the purpose of child support is to provide necessary elements of support to those typically incapable of self-support. The definition of "necessary elements" constantly changes to meet the demands of an increasingly complex society. And although child support is limited to necessities, what is necessary also depends upon the social status and financial resources of the parents and is not limited to bare essentials unless those criteria so dictate. Accordingly, courts retain continuing jurisdiction to modify support decrees as the ability of the parents to provide support and the needs of the children change. In light of the …

The Abandoned Spouse: Alimony And Support Actions, And The Maryland Long Arm Statute, Gary Igal Strausberg

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Paternal Custody Of The Young Child Under The Kentucky No-Fault Divorce Act, David A. Bratt

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of The New Age Of Majority On Preexisting Child Support Settlements, Nicholas C. Dipiazza

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Since the enactment of the twenty-sixth amendment to the United States Constitution, most states passed legislation lowering the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen. A crucial question arising from these statutes is whether they affect or should affect child support settlements which provide for support to the child until he or she reaches the age of majority. This note discusses the key question whether children have a continuing right to support until age twenty-one under settlements resulting from divorce decrees and agreements made prior to the enactment of the new age of majority laws. The note analyzes the conflicts …

Alimony And Child Support In Ohio: New Directions After Dissolution, William Tabac

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Recent decisions by the Ohio Supreme Court will undoubtedly have significant impact upon post-dissolution alimony and child support. In rejecting basic premises upon which domestic relations courts have historically ordered such payments, the court has set new directions. Traditional notions of sex-based roles in the support of the family have been set aside and new standards, based upon the needs of the parties and the factual circumstances in particular cases, have been established. As a result, the husband's statutory duty to support his wife and children during marriage will no longer govern his responsibilities toward the family following dissolution, and …

Dissolution Of Marriage And The Bankruptcy Act Of 1973: "Fresh Start" Forgotten, Carl D. Young

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Alimony And Child Support In Ohio: New Directions After Dissolution, William Louis Tabac

Cleveland State Law Review

Recent decisions by the Ohio Supreme Court will undoubtedly have significant impact upon post-dissolution alimony and child support. In rejecting basic premises upon which domestic relations courts have historically ordered such payments, the court has set new directions. Traditional notions of sex-based roles in the support of the family have been set aside and new standards, based upon the needs of the parties and the factual circumstances in particular cases, have been established. As a result, the husband's statutory duty to support his wife and children during marriage will no longer govern his responsibilities toward the family following dissolution, and …

Development And Expansion Of New York's Permanent Neglect Statute, Joseph R. Carrieri

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Since the early 1970s the well-being of foster children has been the subject of increased attention. Legislation has advanced the protection of the foster child, while the courts have begun to emphasize the child's best interests in determining whether parental rights to custody should be terminated and the child freed for adoption. Early decisions had stressed the rights of the natural parents, often to the exclusion of the child's welfare. Recent legislation and judicial decisions indicate that parental rights will be terminated where the best interests of the child so require. Recent decisions and statutes have clarified the rights of …

The New Article 310 Of The French Civil Code For International Divorce Actions, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Faculty Scholarship

The variety and complexity of the legal issues that can confront a French court in an international divorce action may best be illustrated by a description of the basic factual pattern of, and the initial arguments advanced in, some of the more typical cases:

1. French National Spouse v. Foreign National Spouse
2. The Validity of a Prior Foreign Divorce Decree
3. Foreign National Spouses With Immigrant Status in France
4. Spouses of Foreign Nationality with Domiciliary Status in France

Although disparate, the facts of these four hypothetical cases point to and are unified by two salient legal issues: one jurisdictional in nature and …

The Uniform Disposition Of Community Property Rights At Death Act, Sarah N. Welling

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In 1977, eight of the United States use community property systems instead of the common law systems used in the other 42 states. Because the community property system is totally alien to common law states which do not recognize community interests in property, when domiciliaries of a community property state migrate to a common law state problems develop over the definition of property rights. Two questions usually arise: do the spouses’ rights and interests in the community property change if they move to a common law state? And if not, how are these rights and interests protected? The first question …

Child, Parent, State And The Due Process Clause: An Essay On The Supreme Court’S Recent Work, John H. Garvey

Scholarly Articles

This Article will suggest that the right of autonomy, which limits state control over children, should be considered to reside not in the child alone, but in the family, just as the right against state interference with the family structure resides in the family. The shift in focus from children's rights to family rights implicitly accounts for the mental, physical, and emotional differences between children and adults. Moreover, protecting a family's right of autonomy insures that decisions on behalf of the child will be made by those presumptively best able to make such decisions, the parents.

Florida's No-Fault Divorce: Is It Really No-Fault?, Mary F. Clark

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Summary Judgment For Divorce Required When One Spouse Swears To Irretrievable Breakdown, Kenneth R. Carswell

Mercer Law Review

In Manning v. Manning, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that a divorce must be granted on a motion for summary judgment after one spouse alleges an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and then swears in an affidavit that he is unwilling to cohabit with his spouse, that there are no prospects for reconciliation and that the marriage is irretrievably broken. There is, at that point, no issue of fact for the trial court to resolve, the supreme court said.

The husband in Manning filed a complaint for divorce alleging that the marriage was irretrievably broken. The wife in …

Domestic Relations, Barry B. Mcgough, Lucy S. Mcgough

Mercer Law Review

Domestic relations cases continue to bombard the appellate courts. Approximately 100 such decisions were reviewed for the survey, but only a handful was truly significant. Perhaps the most important of these are the cases attempting to construe Georgia's new "no-fault" ground for divorce.' The subject matter of this report has been sub-divided for ease of use into six substantive areas: marriage, divorce, custody, alimony, adoption (including change of name), and legislation.

Child Support Enforcement And Establishment Of Paternity As Tools Of Welfare Reform—Social Services Amendments Of 1974, Pt. B, 42 U.S.C. §§ 651-60 (Supp. V, 1975), Judith B. Stouder

Washington Law Review

This note will discuss the purposes of' the amendrnents, describe how the provisions are intended to, work, and indicate what is required by HEW and the state welfare agencies for compliance. Constitutional and administrative problems that can be anticipated as the provisions are implemented will also be explored. Finally, the existing Washington State system of child support enforcement will be explained and offered as an example of a successful approach to this difficult problem.

Trimble V. Gordon, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Fiallo V. Bell, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Proposed Reforms In North Carolina Divorce Law, Patricia H. Marschall

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remarriage And Wrongful Death: A Model For Voir Dire Examination, Gary L. Birnbaum

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.