Summary Family Law In-class activity

Lex Loci - validity of marriage is determined by the law of the forum in which it was celebrated Putative Spouse Doctrine - a spouse who believed in good faith that he or she was validly married, and who participated in a ceremonial marriage, is allows to use a state's divorce provisions even though the marriage is found to be void b/c of an impediment Termination of Putative Spouse Status - putative spouse hood terminates upon a party's loss of a good faith belief that he or she is married UMDA on Putative Spouses - putative spouse acquires the rights conferred upon a legal spouse, including the right to maintenance following the termination of the putative spouse status Community Property Jurisdictions on Putative Spouses - putative spouse is entitled to share in the property accumulated by the partners during the marriage even if against a legal spouse and the heirs of the deceased putative spouse Domestic Relations Exception - 1) deals with SMJ of familial matters in fed. court; (2) created in Barber v. Barber; (3) Sup Ct. held that fed courts were without power to hear disputes involving the subject of divorce, or the allowance of alimony Ankenbrandt v. Richards - 1) Sup Ct. held that federal courts are divested of the power to issue: (a) divorce decrees; (b) alimony; (c) child support orders; 2) fed. courts have power over tort claims regardless of how intimately connected they are to family affairs Sosna v. Iowa - 1) deals with SMJ in State Courts 2) durational residency requirements are not necessarily unconstitutional 3) Iowa statute not unconstitutional b/c petitioner was not irretrievably foreclosed from obtaining a divorce decree, requirement reasonably justified on grounds of state's interest in requiring those seeking a divorce in its state courts to be genuinely attached to the state, as well as to insulate its divorce decrees from the likelihood of successful collateral attack Divisible Divorce Theory - PJ over nonresident spouse is not necessary to dissolve a marriage b/c dissolution is a status determination Continuing Jurisdiction - states possess continuing jurisdiction over teh parties to a dissolution if a court possessed PJ over the parties at the time the divorce judgment was entered Defense of Marriage Act - it provides states with the power to determine the validity of same-sex marriage within its own borders McGuire - 1) deals with the doctrine of non-intervention 2) Doctrine of Non-Intervention = state should rarely intervene and adjudicate spousal responsibility in an ongoing marriage b/c of the strong belief in marital privacy Trammel v. US - 1) deals with familial evidentiary privileges 2) modified rule in Hawkins so that the witness-spouse alone has a privilege to refuse to testify adversely; the witness-spouse may neither be compelled to testify nor foreclosed from testifying Palimony - claim for support b/t unmarried persons "Marital-Type" Relationship - (1) 2 people committed together; (2) forgo other liaisons and opportunities; (3) provides companionship; (4) fulfills ea. others emotional, physical, social, and financial needs; (5) couple defines its way of life and ea. partner's expected contribution to it in its own way Indispensable Elements of Palimony - (1) promise to support; (2) coupled with marital-type of relationship Devaney v. L'Esperance - 1) dealt with palimony action 2) cohabitation is only one of many factors that a court must consider when determining if the plaintiff has proven a marital-type of relationship to support a cause of action for palimony Meretricious Relationship - stable, marital-like relationship in which both parties cohabit knowing that a lawful marriage does not exist Five Critical Factors to Determining if Meretricious Relationship Exists - (1) continuous cohabitation; (2) duration of the relationship; (3) purpose of the relationship; (4) pooling of resources; (5) intent of the parties a) factors defined in Fleming case Presumptions of Paternity under UPA Sec. 204 - 1) man is married to mom, and C is born during marriage 2) man is married to mom, and C is born within 300 days of marriage's termination 3) man and woman attempt to marry, and child is born within 300 days of the attempt 4) after C is born, man and mom marry or attempt to marry, and man voluntarily asserts paternity through methods set forth in the act 5) man resides with C for the first 2 years of child's life and holds himself out as the father Rebutting Presumptions of UPA - action must be brought by the presumed father, mother, or another individual w/i 2 years of the child's birth, unless the presumed father did not have sexual intercourse with the mother near the time of the conception, and he never held the child out as his own Equitable Parent Doctrine - courts can find H who is not biological father of child born or conceived during the marriage to be the natural father of the child, when husband and child mutually acknowledge a relationship as father-child, or the moter of the child has cooperated in the development of the father-child relationship over a period of time prior to the divorce, the husband desires to have the rights afforded to a parent, husband is willing to take on the responsibility of paying child support Limitation of Equitable Parent Doctrine - courts have refused to apply the doctrine to situations in which a child was not born or conceived during the marriage Divorce A Mensa Et Thoro - 1) english = divorce from bed and board 2) legal definition = a partial or qualified divorce by which the parties were separated and allowed or ordered to live apart, but remained technically married Common Law Grounds for Divorce - (1) adultery; (2) cruel and inhuman treatment; (3) mental cruelty; (4) desertion ; (5) constructive desertion; (6) habitual drunkenness; (7) indignities Common Law Defenses to Divorce Action - (1) unclean hands; (2) recrimination; (3) condonation; (4) collusion; (5) connivance; (6) undue delay; (7) insanity No-Fault Divorce - do not need to prove a party's fault in order to obtain a divorce decree