Family Law
Robin Fretwell-Wilson
Summer 2015
Family law, also called domestic relations law, involves the legal relationships between husband and wife and parent and child as a social, political, and economic unit
Overview of Course:
Britney Spears case: when you are married for over 10 years things get serious and serious remedies are available
· Longer term marriage = spousal supported
· Quickie marriages result in annulments and there is typically an argument for no division of property because there was no time for comingling
· Federal law on family law governs money but largely stays out of it; left to States
Influence of Religion in Family Law:
o Burwell v. Hobby Lobby:
· RFRA test is that claimants can say the government rule shouldn’t apply if it can show substantial burden for exercise religion and that for this specific person or the government lacks compelling interest and has a less restrictive way
· Amendment: RLUIPA for prisoners and prisoners rights; belief doesn’t have to be central to religion or compelling, can just be important to person [no sincerity test]
o Note: Ginsburg dissent: inequity because having a baby means hard to go back to work and is inherent gender inequality
o Reynolds v. United States (Is the law in the United States)
· Religion-Polygamy
· Laws can interfere with mere religious practice, but cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinion.
· Don’t want to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself.
o Religious marriage is not a valid argument
o Practice v. Belief
o Marriage while sacred obligation is a Civil Contract
· Civil Contract is what governs and we promulgate
· Must publicly record the marriage and criminal for a religious figure not to
o Catholic Charities of Sacramento Inc v. Superior Court
· Courts reject the companies argument that covering contraceptives is unconstitutional
· Catholic Charities claims burdened in 3 ways:
o Religious autonomy (not a church org but made up of Roman Catholics)
o Free exercise of religion (religious exemption is to provide it for religious activity and so the more secular the activity the more likely it must cover drug benefits)
o Rational Basis (rationally serves legitimate interest of complying with rule barring interference with relationship between a church and its ministers)
· Catholic Charities does not meet any prongs
o Religious autonomy (not a church org but made up of Roman Catholics)
o Free exercise of religion (religious exemption is to provide it for religious activity and so the more secular the activity the more likely it must cover drug benefits)
o Rational Basis (rationally serves legitimate interest of complying with rule barring interference with relationship between a church and its ministers)
Who Counts as Family/ Advantages of Being a Family:
What is a family:
· Narrowly: Can mean a group related by blood or by marriage.
o Traditional family: Legal relationship between husband and wife and parent and child as a social, political, and economic unit.
· Broadly: One of a group living in the same household.
o Nontraditional family: legal relationships among persons who live together but are not married.
o Traditional Family:
· Ralph: Intimacy, Sexual Relationship, Reciprocal Duties
· Ladue : Blood; Marriage; Adoption
· Moore: Functional equivalent a permanence/stability
· Ladue/Hofstad: Having children; contact, mutual caring, financial interdependence, co-residence, monogamous and committed
Two different Kinds of Rights
· 3rd Party Rights: Rights against another
o State/employer needs to treat unit as family
o Almost always the state (Laude: Zoning rules) or employers (Ralph- trying to give rights to employees vis a vis the employer
· Inter Se Rights: Rights against each other
o You need to give x person why do you guys owe each other anything.
§ Marvin Claim after a break up, Hofstad is also a break up
The Nature of Marriage:
· Marriage is a legal status, founded on contract, and established by law.
o Marriage is more than a personal relationship between a man and a woman.
· Marriage is subject to state regulation based upon the general welfare of the people of the state.
o Marriage constitutes a social institution involving the highest interests of society.
o Antenuptual/Premarital Agreement (aka: prenuptial agreement): Contract entered into by 2 people who are engaged.
· Typically deals with economic matters in the event that the marriage is unsuccessful. Some regulate conduct while married. Parties are free to fashion virtually any type of distribution scheme.
o Question usually involves a challenge to a prenuptial agreement
o Economically weaker spouse will be trying to void the agreement.
o Economically stronger spouse will be trying to uphold the agreement.
o You need to assess the validity**
o Validity: Prenups are treated like a common contract– Limited grounds for challenging:
1. Lack of full and fair disclosure of net worth
· To be invalidated, disclosure must be inaccurate AND unfair in inducing othe
cal violence.
· Waivable if stay in the marriage after the threat of violence has been removed.
4. Fraud: Any misrepresentation or concealment of information that goes to “an essential aspect of marriage”. When deceived spouse learns of this, he/she has grounds for annulment.
· Waivable if the spouse stays in the marriage after learning about it.
o MUST go to court; CAN be “ratified” by parties’ conduct once legal bad “impediment” is removed
· Requires a formal annulment proceeding, and may include: an underage marriage, marriage to a spouse who is mentally or physically incompetent, a fraudulent marriage, a marriage under duress, a sham marriage, and a marriage in jest.
o If the parties fail to bring an annulment action for a voidable marriage during the lifetime of either party, or within a reasonable period of time, they are deemed to have condoned and ratified any marital imperfection, and the marriage remains a legally valid marriage.
Defenses to Annulment Actions:
1. Equitable Doctrine of Latches : In the absence of any statute of limitations defense.
2. Estoppel by Judgment or Res Judicata: Will generally override any mistake of law or mistake of fact, as long as the parties had their day in court on the merits of the case.
o May also bar the parties from contest in the validity of their marriage based upon a prior invalid divorce.
o Fault Grounds for Divorce:.
o The Grounds for divorce are completely statutory in the United States.
3. Bed and Board Divorces and Absolute Divorces: A judicial decree, which orders the spouse to live separate and apart, but does not affect their marital status and, thus, neither souse, is free to remarry.
o The parties remain legally married the marital duty to support continues , and in this respect the action for divorce from bed and board differs little from an action for separate maintenance or alimony without divorce.
o If parties reconcile, they may have the decree of divorce from bed and board terminated.
o Under some statutes, if the parties fail to reconcile, the decree for divorce from bed and board may be converted into absolute divorce after a specific time has elapsed.
