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Family Law Overview

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Family law generally concerns domestic relations and family-related matters such as marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, adoptions, paternity, guardianships, domestic abuse, surrogacy, child custody, child abduction, the dissolution of marriage and associated issues. According to U.S. Census data the make-up of the American family has been changing. For instance, the 2000 Census revealed that less than a quarter of American families are married couples with minor children compared with 45% of such households in 1960.

A large percentage of marriages end in separation or divorce. When a couple decides to terminate their marriage, one of the parties will petition the court for a divorce. Besides seeking a legal termination of the relationship, the couple will also ask the court to divide the marital assets, grant child custody to one or both parents, and impose child and spousal support obligations, if applicable.

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Premarital Agreements

Generally, courts will either apply community property laws or equitable distribution laws when dividing marital property, depending on whether the court sits in a community property or equitable distribution state. In community property states, a court will divide community property 50/50 between the couple. In an equitable distribution states, a court will divide marital property equitably, which may or may not be 50/50. Some complexities may arise if the couple hold marital property in a number of states. The court will then have to determine which property division laws apply to each piece of property.

For couples who wish to establish their own property division rules, they may set-up their own formula within a premarital agreement. Premarital agreements are also known as prenuptial agreements or antenuptial agreements, and are entered into by couples in anticipation of marriage. Couples who wish to manage their assets separately, who wish to provide for children from a prior marriage, or possess significantly different levels of assets or income commonly structure their financial affairs in a premarital agreement.

While a premarital agreement may be used to determine how marital assets will be divided should a couple divorce, a court will not uphold an agreement that violates public policy, such as an arrangement that limits child support, custody or visitation rights, and certain requirements must be met in order for a prenuptial agreement to be found valid..

Child Custody, Visitation and Child Support

Courts generally prefer to grant legal and physical custody over any children from a marriage to both parents. Legal custody means a parent has the right to make significant life decisions, such as those concerning education, health and religion, for the child. Physical custody means a parent has a right to the child living in the parent's home. In cases where a court awards a parent sole physical custody, it may also award the non-custodial parent visitation rights.

To calculate child support payments, courts will look at the factors outlined within the state's child support laws. These may include each parent's income, whether one parent is paying alimony to another, the child custody arrangements, any health, medical or educational expenses, and the parent's standard of living.

The Full Faith and Credit Given to Child Custody Determinations Act (28 U.S.C. § 1738A) ensures that the child custody ruling of a court in one state will be upheld by another state.

Divorce Mediation

While a divorce may be a stressful time for the parties involved, the parties do not have to allow the stress or any lingering bitterness towards the ex-spouse to poison the divorce process. If the parties are able to negotiate in good faith, mediation may represent a more civil, less expensive and less adversarial way to divide the marital assets, resolve any child custody issues and settle on child and spousal support amounts. In such an instance, a neutral mediator can work with the parties, as well as their attorneys, to structure a settlement that is acceptable to all parties.

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Featured Cases

Uzamere v. Bush, et al
Plaintiff Cheryl D. Uzamere alleges that Defendants government officials failed to act on her report that her husband Ehigie Edobor a/k/a Godwin Uzamere entered into a sham marriage with her and committed bigamy by marrying another woman at the same time.
New York Eastern District Court
Plaintiff
Filed: February 22, 2008
Plaintiff: Cheryl D. Uzamere Defendant: George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Michael Mukasey, Michael Chertoff, Dr. Emilio T. Gonzalez and others...
Last Docket Report Change Found: April 25, 2008

(April 24, 2008)

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Legislation

Bill Introduced: S.2787 Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009
A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2009 for military activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2009, and for other purposes.

(March 29, 2008)
Bill Introduced: S.Con.Res.70 Budget resolution FY2009
An original concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2009 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2008 and 2010 through 2013.

(March 5, 2008)
Bill Introduced: H.Con.Res.312 Budget resolution FY2009
Revising the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2008, establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2009, and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2010 through 2013.

(March 5, 2008)
Bill Signed by President: H.R.4986 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
To provide for the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, as previously enrolled, with certain modifications to address the foreign sovereign immunities provisions of title 28, United States Code, with respect to the attachment of property in certain judgements against Iraq, the lapse of statutory authorities for the payment of bonuses, special pays, and similar benefits for members of the uniformed services, and for other purposes.

January 28, 2008: Signed by President.
(January 26, 2008)
Bill Enacted: H.R.2640 NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007
To improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and for other purposes.

January 08, 2008: Became Public Law No: 110-180.
(January 6, 2008)

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Regulations

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Government

Notice - Privacy Act: Systems of records
Child Support Enforcement Office
Notice
Privacy Act:
Systems of records,
21200-21203 [05-8214]
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS) Office of Child Support Enforcement Privacy Act of 1974; Amended System of Records AGENCY: Office of Child Support Enforcement, ACF, HHS. ACTION: Notice of amended system of records. SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirement of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is publishing notice of its amendment of its systems of records entitled ``The Location and Collection System'', No. 09-90-0074. DATES:... [read document]
View Document | Download PDF

(April 24, 2005)

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Articles

Joinder of Tort Claims in Divorce Actions
Journal of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Vol. 12, pp. 285-308, Winter 1994 Barbara Glesner Fines University of Missouri at Kansas City - School of Law Date Posted: May 12, 2008 Last Revised: May 12, 2008
(May 11, 2008)
Changing Name Changing: Framing Rules and the Future of Marital Names
University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 74, No. 3, Summer 2007 Elizabeth F. Emens Columbia Law School Date Posted: May 6, 2008 Last Revised: May 12, 2008
(May 11, 2008)
Bong Hits 4 Jesus as a Cautionary Tale of Two Cities
Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2008 Stephen Kanter Lewis & Clark Law School Date Posted: May 12, 2008 Last Revised: May 12, 2008
(May 11, 2008)
The Networked Family: Reframing the Legal Understanding of Caregiving and Caregivers
Virginia Law Review, Vol. 94, No. 2, 2008 Melissa E. Murray University of California, Berkeley, School of Law Date Posted: May 11, 2008 Last Revised: May 11, 2008
(May 10, 2008)
The Vulnerable Subject: Anchoring Equality in the Human Condition
Emory Public Law Research Paper No. 8-40, Yale Journal of Law & Feminism, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2008 Martha Albertson Fineman Emory University - School of Law Date Posted: May 10, 2008 Last Revised: May 10, 2008
(May 9, 2008)

Competition Planned to Spur Research on Divorce and Custody
Arab News, Saudi Arabia - 2 hours ago
JEDDAH, 13 May 2008 â€” In an attempt to increase publicâ€™s awareness about divorce and custody issues, the Center for Law and Arbitration, a subdivision of ...

(May 11, 2008)
New York Daily News
Paul McCartney granted divorce decree
The Associated Press - 9 hours ago
At the end of a hearing in March, Mills stole the show by emptying a pitcher of water on the head of McCartney's lawyer, Fiona Shackleton. ...
McCartney and Millsâ€™ Marriage Officially Over andPOP
Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are officially single New York Daily News
McCartney-Mills Marriage Officially Over TheCelebrityCafe.com
E! Online - Ottawa Citizen all 377 news articles

(May 11, 2008)
Today's Inbox: English only: Pay attention to something more important
DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - 9 hours ago
These are elected officials whose obligation it is to uphold the law and see elected officials are doing so. How often, Staskal, was my child-support case ...

(May 11, 2008)
Scottsbluff officer retires to new career
Beatrice Daily Sun, NE - 1 hour ago
She has become a child-support enforcement officer for the Scotts Bluff County Attorney's Office. She first joined the Scottsbluff Police Department in ...

(May 11, 2008)
Clock Runs Out On Ethics Bill, But Not Compromises
Hartford Courant, United States - 8 hours ago
For more than 20 years, family support magistrates have exercised the power of judges in child support matters without winning confirmation by the ...

(May 11, 2008)

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Blog Posts

The people behind the bar
Although the details of how and why are yet to emerge, the news about Mark Saunders' death is quite shocking for those of us at the family bar, which is a relatively small community. However, I don't intend to speculate about what has happened - it is undoubtedly a very private tragedy for both Mark Saunders, [...]
(May 8, 2008)
Uncontested Divorce: Comparing Nevada and Indiana
I know of the old reputation of Nevada as a destination for quickie divorces and I have to wonder if that explains what I found on the Ciciliano Law Blog. Indiana makes a big deal about promoting agreements settling divorce cases but Indiana does not specifically recognize a joint divorce petition and still requires the 60 day cooling off period - even if the parties have agreed to everything including the divorce. (See IC 31-15-2-13). Reading UNCONTESTED DIVORCES shows things are a bit...
(May 8, 2008)
How many possessions do you need?
Sorry I have not been blogging much recently but I am expecting a baby and I have been busy knitting!!!!! When people get divorced there can be many areas of dispute - the divorce itself (pointless) the children ( heartbreaking) the matrimonial finances ( often disproportionate) domestic violence and injunctions ( necessary because the police are sporadic in their approach). Most people worry about what their rights are. They argue over the spoils of the past and sacrifice present and future...
(May 8, 2008)
Atheist Father Who Objected To Son Attending Catholic High School Appeals Ruling
We briefly mentioned Andrew Wolfson's article in the Courier-Journal here. As an update here is his follow up piece reporting that Judge Timothy Feeley permitted the teenager's mother to make his school decision. An appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals has been filed.
(May 8, 2008)
Gaskill v. Robbins Ky Supreme Court Oral Arguments Set June 11, 2008
Having access to case status throughout the pipeline is enabling lawyers to be better advocates. How? Well, if you represent a physician, do you think you want to try that case before Gaskill v. Robbins is decided? And, if you must mediate or try your case before then, perhaps the oral arguments may help you get a feel for where the law is headed. On June 8, 2008 at 10am the Kentucky Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gaskill v. Robbins. We have posted about this case involving business...
(May 7, 2008)

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