Family Law and the Indissolubility of Parenthood

Cover......Page 1
Frontmatter......Page 2
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 12
PART ONE - Family Law and the Meaning of Divorce......Page 16
Fathers, mothers, and the gender war......Page 18
The turmoil in policy about parenting after separation......Page 23
The growth in litigation about parenting......Page 24
Reframing the issues......Page 27
The indissolubility of parenthood and limitations on autonomy......Page 29
The indissolubility of marriage......Page 31
The emergence of no-fault divorce......Page 33
Giving marriages a decent burial......Page 36
The allocation of the children......Page 37
The clean-break principle and the goal of self-sufficiency......Page 40
Child support and parental separation......Page 49
The breakdown of the allocation model and the emergence of the enduring family......Page 51
The divorce revolution and the feminization of poverty......Page 52
The gender war and the enduring family......Page 54
Restructuring the family after separation......Page 56
PART TWO - Parenthood in the Enduring Family......Page 58
The movement toward joint custody in the United States......Page 60
Parenting plans......Page 62
Other linguistic formulations......Page 63
Europe: The continuation of parental responsibility after separation......Page 65
The meaningful involvement of both parents......Page 70
Beyond custody......Page 71
Resolving disputes about parenting decisions in the enduring family......Page 72
The idealization of the postseparation family......Page 76
The good divorce......Page 78
4 - Reasons for the Demise of Sole Custody......Page 81
Changes in community attitudes toward parental responsibility......Page 82
Pressure from fathers......Page 84
The benefits of paternal involvement in the postseparation family......Page 88
Fairness between parents......Page 92
Children's views on time with nonresident parents......Page 94
The counterthrust -- continuing the preseparation patterns of care......Page 96
The rise of shared parenting laws......Page 105
The growth of shared parenting......Page 106
Legislative support for shared parenting......Page 112
The move toward equal time: Developments in the United States......Page 114
The move toward equal time: Developments in Europe......Page 116
Shared care in Australian law......Page 119
Shared parenting and high-conflict families......Page 127
Children's views on equal time arrangements......Page 129
Shared care and traditional parenting arrangements after separation......Page 131
PART THREE - Parents Forever?......Page 134
6 - Violence, Abuse, and Postseparation Parenting......Page 136
Patterns of violence within families......Page 138
The relevance of domestic violence to decision making on parenting after separation......Page 144
Intimate partner violence and legislation on postseparation parenting......Page 148
Presumptions against custody......Page 151
Presumption against unsupervised visitation......Page 153
Differentiating between kinds of family violence......Page 155
Current safety concerns......Page 158
When familial relationships can no longer endure......Page 160
Domestic violence: The need for a bifurcated response......Page 162
The dilemma of relocation......Page 165
The conflict in legislatures and courts......Page 168
Relocation: Between two meanings of divorce......Page 172
Beyond polarization......Page 177
Relocation and the best interests of the child test......Page 179
Reasons for relocation......Page 181
Should nonresident parents move?......Page 184
Maintaining a meaningful relationship with the nonresident parent......Page 186
The difficulties of contact......Page 187
The burden of travel......Page 189
Divorce, cohabitation, and the enduring family......Page 190
The risks of relocation......Page 193
Determining public policy on relocation......Page 194
PART FOUR - The Family Law System and the Enduring Family......Page 196
Mediation as an alternative to litigation......Page 198
The paradigm shift in family dispute resolution......Page 199
The Australian Family Relationship Centers......Page 202
New approaches to in-court counseling services......Page 208
Competition or partnership? Mediators, lawyers, and the court system......Page 209
New approaches to adjudication......Page 212
Denmark: The role of County Governors' Offices......Page 216
Reforming the adversarial system......Page 217
Adjudication in families with continuing high conflict......Page 220
PART FIVE - Financial Transfers in the Enduring Family......Page 224
Maintaining and creating ties between parents......Page 226
Child support and the divorce revolution......Page 228
The public role in child support assessment and collection......Page 230
Revenue recovery, supporting children, and parent-child contact......Page 237
Devising formulas -- the search for principle......Page 240
The "costs" of children......Page 243
The percentage of obligor income approach......Page 244
The income shares approach......Page 245
Community views on calculating the child support obligation......Page 247
Child support and shared parenting......Page 248
Child support and the interdependence of parents......Page 251
The divorce revolution and the clean break......Page 253
Role differentiation in the modern family......Page 258
The economic consequences of separation and divorce for men......Page 261
Justifying spousal support in an age of no-fault divorce......Page 263
Reconceptualizing and reviving spousal support......Page 265
Compensation, income sharing, and the decision to end the marriage......Page 270
Spousal support as insurance......Page 273
Spousal support and property division......Page 274
The relationship between child support and spousal support......Page 276
Diverging approaches and the meaning of divorce......Page 279
PART SIX - The Future of Family Law......Page 282
Abandoning the Judeo-Christian view of marriage......Page 284
Bolshevik Russia revisited......Page 285
Wavering between two opinions......Page 287
The challenge of experience......Page 291
The irretrievable breakdown of divorce policy......Page 292
Toward new policies for the postseparation family......Page 293
Index......Page 296