Family Law Commons^™

Denial And Concealment Of Unwanted Pregnancy: "A Film Hollywood Dared Not Do", Susan Ayres, Prema Manjunath

Faculty Scholarship

The actual cases and two films examined in this essay challenge stock narratives of mothers who deny or conceal unwanted pregnancy as a monster, or a victim, and also challenge "legal norms, logic and structures" pertaining to unwanted pregnancy and neonaticide. This essay draws on films because of their influential power to "reach enormous audiences by combining narratives and appealing characters with visual imagery and technological achievement, ... stir deep emotions and leave deep impressions." For these reasons, Orit Kamir asserts that films are more compelling than "theoretical legal texts or even judicial rhetoric."

The two films examined -- Stephanie …

Parents' Self-Determination And Children's Custody: A New Analytical Framework For State Structuring Of Children's Family Life, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Virtual Adultery: No Physical Harm, No Foul?, Kathryn Pfeiffer

University of Richmond Law Review

New forms of social media and virtual communication are changing the ways in which we meet new people and develop meaningful relationships. In today's world, you can skype a long-distance significant other or join an Internet chat room to find others who share a similar interest. While, in many ways, the Internet has facilitated our ability to interact with others unencumbered by geographic allocation or time zone, its unfettered reach has proved to be problematic for one relationship in particular-the marital unit. Studies show that more marriages are ending because of "virtual infidelity," the term used to describe nonphysical behavior …

Spoliation In Child Welfare: Perspectives And Solutions, Dale Margolin

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This article examines the potential effects of failing to preserve or produce evidence in the child welfare tort context. Section Two provides an overview of the record-keeping policies and practices in child protective systems throughout the country. It also describes the toll that civil litigation has taken on these systems because of negligent care of children. Section Three explains spoliation and its civil and criminal ramifications in other contexts. Section Four analyzes the effects that missing records have on child welfare torts. Section Five discusses best practices for attorneys and courts in addressing spoliation in child welfare tort litigation. Section …

Response: And Baby Makes How Many - Using In Re M.C. To Consider Parentage Of A Child Conceived Through Sexual Intercourse And Born To A Lesbian Couple, Nancy Polikoff

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Locking In Wedlock: Reconceptualizing Marriage Under A Property Model, Ruth Sarah Lee

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Illegitimacy: Children Of Cohabiting Couples And Stepchildren, Cynthia Grant Bowman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The legal treatment of children of unmarried parents and stepchildren must be changed if they are not to be disadvantaged in comparison with children of married parents. With respect to the areas of law discussed in this Article, legal reform is necessary in a variety of situations in which legitimate children receive what is the functional equivalent of posthumous support-that is, inheritance in the absence of a will, social security survivors benefits, workers' compensation, and tort suits for wrongful death and loss of consortium. Cohabitants and stepchildren of both married and unmarried parents should be added to the persons listed …

The Legal Relationship Between Cohabitants And Their Partners' Children, Cynthia Grant Bowman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article argues that U.S. law should give protection to relationships between cohabitants and their partners 'children when necessary to avoid the economic and emotional trauma that may be caused by separation of the child from a member of his or her household if the cohabitation ends. After examining the social science literature about the welfare of both stepchildren and children of cohabitants and the inadequate legal treatment of custody, visitation, and child support issues under current law, the author recommends that cohabiting stepparents (1) be given standing to seek custody if they have acted as de facto parents, with …

An Introduction To Child Trafficking In The United States, Katherine Kaufka Walts

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Beyond “Eros:” Relative Caregiving, “Agape” Parentage, And The Best Interests Of Children., Sacha M. Coupet

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Decoupling Marriage & Procreation: A Feminist Argument For Same-Sex Marriage, Hannah Haksgaard

Faculty Publications

The quickly arriving reality of same-sex marriage is a move forward for all couples who marry, including opposite-sex and transgender couples. This piece examines the way that same-sex marriage will improve these other marriages. In particular, I argue that the "essential aspects" of marriage remain sex and reproduction - domains associated with the wife in a traditional marriage in a way that serves to denigrate women. Although the long-existing link between procreation and marriage has begun to fade, it will not be until same-sex marriage is fully legalized that opposite-sex marriage can fundamentally change. Therefore, both feminists and advocates of …

Asset Protection Through The Use Of Premarital Agreements, Robert T. Rose

CMC Senior Theses

The number of multi-million dollar divorce settlements has been increasing rapidly in the last decade. Although Donald Trump's divorce from his first wife, Ivana, wherein $25 million was awarded to the former spouse, may have seemed like a significant sum in 1992, this amount appears quite minuscule today.1 In December of 2011, Mel Gibson's soon to be ex-wife Robyn Moore received $425 million in the couples' divorce settlement.2 In March of 2012, Frank McCourt was forced to sell his professional franchise, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in bankruptcy during his divorce proceedings with Jamie McCourt.3 It seems as if every month …

Counting From One: Replacing The Marital Presumption With A Presumption Of Sole Parentage, Julie Shapiro

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Using Community Based Participatory Research To Study The Relationship Between Sources And Types Of Funding And Mental Health Outcomes For Children Served By The Child Welfare System In Ohio, Susan Vivian Mangold, Catherine Cerulli, Gregory Kapcar, Crystal Ward Allen, Kim Kaukeinen, Hua He

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

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

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

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.

Of Wife And The Domestic Servant In The Arab World, Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The author asserts to avoid common misunderstandings on the relevance of Sharia to modern women in the Arab World that a) Shari’s relevance to the lives of modern women in the Arab World has been largely confined to the area of family law, b) in the modern nation state Sharia has been codified, i.e., certain rules derived from Islamic jurisprudence on the family have been selected and passed as laws, each nation state having its own unique combination of such rules, c) the courts and the judges who adjudicate disputes on family law are either secular courts/judges, or judges trained …

The Future Impact Of Same-Sex Marriage: More Questions Than Answers, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Same-sex relationships have already significantly altered family law, by leading to new formal relationship statuses and incorporation of the principle that both of a child’s legal parents can be of the same sex. This essay explores further changes that may lie ahead as same-sex marriage debates increasingly affect both family law and the social meanings of marriage. Marriage as an institution has changed most dramatically because of the cumulative effects of the last half-century of de-gendering family law. Same-sex marriage–and perhaps even more so, the highly visible cultural debate over it–is contributing to this process.

The author argues that the …

Neuroscience And The Child Welfare System, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

Increasingly, scholars and policymakers are calling for programs that take a preventive approach to child abuse and neglect, rather than our current tendency to respond only after a crisis. There are significant social and economic arguments supporting this shift. The Nurse-Family Partnership, developed by David Olds and discussed in this symposium, illustrates how specific investments in family functioning can lower rates of child abuse and neglect, leading to a host of positive outcomes for children and society, from greater educational attainment to less involvement in the criminal justice system. Thinking about child well-being more broadly, the Nobel laureate James Heckman …

Building Resilience In Foster Children: The Role Of The Child's Advocate, Frank E. Vandervort, James Henry, Mark A. Sloane

Articles

This Article provides an introduction to, and brief overview of trauma, its impact upon foster children, and steps children's advocates" can take to lessen or ameliorate the impact of trauma upon their clients. This Article begins in Part 11 by defining relevant terms. Part III addresses the prevalence of trauma among children entering the child welfare system. Part IV considers the neurodevelopmental (i.e., the developing brain) impact of trauma on children and will explore how that trauma may manifest emotionally and behaviorally. With this foundation in place, Part V discusses the need for a comprehensive trauma assessment including a thorough …

I Do. Is That Okay With You?: A Look At How Most States Are Circumventing The Full Faith And Credit Clause And Equal Protection Clause To Not Recognize Legal Same-Sex Marriages From Other States And Its Effect On Society, Rebecca Hameroff

Florida A & M University Law Review

Due to statutes, bans, and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, states do not have to recognize legal same-sex marriages from sister states that recognize same-sex marriage. This paper examines the denial of the fundamental right to marriage for same-sex couples, the violation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by not recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. It starts by looking at the impact these practices have on same-sex couples and the toll it …