The marital presumption is deeply rooted in Anglo-American law: a husband and wife are assumed to be the father and mother of any child born during their marriage. With the advent of sophisticated genetic testing, no-fault divorce and changing family structures, however, American states are now questioning the continued validity of the presumption. Paternity can be determined with certainty and much of the stigma associated with the circumstances of a child’s birth has disappeared. In the face of these changes, the presumption has been exposed as a legal fiction without a simple meaning, even as it continues to confer parenthood: in all states, married couples, gay or straight, who walk out of the hospital with a child are legal parents. This article explores how states struggle to reconcile the strong public policies supporting marriage with new knowledge about biological facts.
Professor Elizabeth Scott, the chief reporter of the American Law Institute’s (ALI) Restatement of Children and the Law, has often observed that the...
This Article considers the interaction between marriage, households, and public welfare-type benefits. In light of constant cultural and media...
Singlehood is becoming an increasingly important social identity category. Thousands of people are members of Facebook groups such as I am my Own...
Scores of lawsuits have pushed retirement plan sponsors to shorter, easier-to-navigate menus, but – as Ian Ayres and Quinn Curtis argue in this work –...
Family law is for young people. To facilitate child rearing and help spouses pool resources over a lifetime, the law obligates parents to minor...
The recently enacted Respect for Marriage Act is important bipartisan legislation that will protect same-sex marriage should the Supreme Court...
The price of exit influences the terms of intimate relationships—and constitutes an important factor in distinguishing committed from contingent...
In the introduction to her book, Kristin Henning writes: “We live in a society that is uniquely afraid of Black children.” (P. xv.)
The Rage of...
Parentage agreements are proliferating. In a fertility clinic, an egg donor, sperm donor, and gestational surrogate may agree to waive their parental...