Family Law in America

Contents......Page 12
Table of Cases......Page 16
Introduction to the Paperback Edition......Page 22
Introduction......Page 28
Introduction......Page 37
Contract Cohabitation......Page 38
Registered Domestic Partnership......Page 44
Common Law Marriage and De Facto Marriage......Page 50
Procedural Marriage and Other Informal Marriages for Limited Purposes......Page 54
Putative Marriage and Marriage by Estoppel......Page 56
Prenuptial Agreements......Page 57
Introduction......Page 62
The State’s Role in Establishing the Marriage Relationship......Page 64
Freedom to Marry as a Fundamental Human Right......Page 65
The State’s Efforts to Limit Marriage......Page 67
Annulment......Page 69
Age......Page 72
Prisoner’s Marriage......Page 73
Mental Competence......Page 74
Incestuous Marriage......Page 75
Sex......Page 79
Number (Bigamy)......Page 85
Maintaining the Marriage Relationship: From Inequality to Equality in Marriage......Page 87
Property Ownership and Control......Page 89
Interspousal Immunity......Page 92
Personal Safety......Page 94
Privacy, Equality, and Autonomy: Sexual Intimacy in Marriage......Page 96
Sexual Intimacy Outside of Marriage......Page 99
Individual Rights and Equality in Marriage......Page 102
Introduction......Page 103
Fault......Page 105
Residency......Page 107
No-Fault Divorce......Page 109
Distribution of Economic Resources......Page 113
Property Distribution......Page 114
Alimony......Page 121
Child Support......Page 126
Judicial Discretion and Codification......Page 129
The Primary Caretaker Preference......Page 131
The Best Interests of the Child......Page 133
The Lawyer for the Child and the Guardian ad Litem......Page 135
A Child-Focused Inquiry......Page 136
Joint or Shared Custody......Page 138
Continuity of a Relationship with Both Parents: Relocation......Page 140
Unilateral Removal of the Child from the Jurisdiction......Page 144
Continuity of a Relationship with Others......Page 145
Summary Dissolution......Page 150
Summary Process and Divorce by Registration......Page 151
Mediation......Page 152
The Future of Divorce......Page 155
Introduction......Page 158
The Concept of Punishment......Page 160
The Definition of Child Abuse......Page 164
The Role of the Federal Government......Page 166
Model Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting Statute......Page 167
Other Model Acts......Page 170
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974......Page 171
The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980......Page 172
Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997......Page 173
Child Protection Process......Page 174
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services......Page 176
Following DeShaney......Page 178
Introduction......Page 180
The Role of Personal Autonomy......Page 184
Independent and Agency Adoptions......Page 185
Surrogacy......Page 188
Open Adoption: Visitation Rights for Birth Parents......Page 194
Open Adoption: Access to Adoption Records......Page 195
Placement......Page 198
Step-parent and Second Parent Adoptions......Page 201
The Role of the Federal Government and the Absence of Personal Autonomy......Page 203
Placement......Page 206
Open Adoption......Page 207
The Future of Adoption......Page 208
Appendix......Page 210
Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act......Page 212
Uniform Pre-Marital Agreement Act......Page 228
Uniform Parentage Act......Page 231
Uniform Putative and Unknown Fathers Act......Page 252
Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act......Page 257
Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act......Page 267
Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act......Page 285
A......Page 288
C......Page 289
E......Page 291
I......Page 292
M......Page 293
P......Page 294
U......Page 295