Family Court Review最新文献

The United States continues to grapple with the overwhelming lack of affordable child care facilities and resources available to parents. The rising child care costs continue to disproportionately impact low-income families, families of color, and women. The struggle to find affordable care leaves many individuals with the difficult decision to change their career paths or leave the workforce entirely to provide care for their children. Child care programs serve many benefits to both children and parents. This Note proposes a new discretionary universal child care model that addresses modern issues in child care through the culmination of previous child care reform efforts. The proposed program will leave states the choice to implement the new model with an incentive program to bolster support and performance of the legislation.

The concept and dangers of social media and Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) are not new; however, new issues have developed with the promulgation of artificial intelligence and the creation of deepfake media. Children are being adversely affected by deepfakes in a whole new way, which is reflected by the lack of legislation in this area. This, along with the increasing public accessibility to manipulate media, has created ever-growing dangers, which the country is not prepared to handle. This Note opposes banning AI technology, and instead proposes a two-part federal legislation to provide criminal and civil penalties for CSAM deepfakes.

Status as a Veteran or military Servicemember (SM) can negatively impact custody determination in family court. Veterans and Servicemembers (SMs) must contend with unique barriers. The first barrier is a dueling media narrative of extremes, in which they are both idolized and demonized, extremes that shape the view that much of American society takes with respect to Veterans and SMs. The second barrier is the Permanent Change of Station (PCS) system. PCS forces SMs to move frequently and they have no formal mechanism to decline a PCS in order to maintain an existing child custody arrangement. The third barrier is an alarmingly high and incorrect over-association of military service and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) coupled with the incorrect assertion that PTSD manifests itself primarily in a violent manner. The fourth barrier is a unique administrative hearing process within each of the military services known as the Family Advocacy Program (FAP) Incident Determination Committee (IDC) / Case Review Committee (CRC) which reviews claims of spousal or child abuse and is empowered to substantiate abuse claims without affording procedural due process protections. This paper is important because informing the body of professionals who comprise family court matters about these barriers will ideally lead to improved child custody outcomes for Veterans and SMs as well as push for additional research into the subject to understand how and in what manner SMs and Veterans are negatively impacted in custody determinations.

In contemporary multicultural societies, the family law profession requires a nuanced understanding of diverse cultural backgrounds to facilitate equitable and effective resolutions. Cultural competence in the family law profession entails recognizing and respecting the beliefs, values, and practices of individuals from different cultural backgrounds. Understanding the impact of religion on family dynamics, decision-making processes, and conflict resolution is essential for family law professionals to navigate sensitive issues such as divorce, custody arrangements, and parental rights. By delving into the teachings, traditions, and rituals of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism, this paper elucidates the unique cultural considerations that influence family law disputes within these religious communities. It examines key aspects such as dietary preferences, religious observances, and extended family dynamics, shedding light on how these factors shape co-parenting arrangements and legal proceedings. Furthermore, this paper underscores the importance of incorporating cultural sensitivity into the family law process to promote mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among parties. By fostering an environment where diverse religious perspectives are acknowledged and valued, mediators can facilitate more equitable and satisfactory outcomes for families from different cultural backgrounds. Ultimately, this paper advocates for the integration of cultural competence training into family law practices, emphasizing the need for mediators to continuously educate themselves on the religious and cultural nuances of the diverse populations they serve. By embracing cultural competence, family law practitioners can better serve the needs of all families, regardless of their religious affiliations, and contribute to a more inclusive and just legal system.

There is an increasing number of high-conflict custody cases involving transgender and gender expansive (TGE) youth within family courts. The current sociopolitical climate, giving rise to an unprecedented amount of anti-transgender legislation, adds further complexity to decision-making and creates a contentious and unpredictable climate for TGE youth and affirming parents in family court. Although researchers in health, child development, and well-being have generated a robust body of evidence supporting the importance of affirming family and community for TGE youth, there remains a disconnect between evidence-based best practices and actual practice in the family courts. Courts are frequently diverted by the question of whether the child is TGE, or who is “to blame” for the child's TGE identity, rather than seeking to determine which parent is better able to meet the needs of the whole child—including, but not limited to, needs related to the child's gender identity and expression. Contested custody litigation provides an opportunity for family courts to prevent harm and promote the well-being of TGE youth and families by facilitating access to care, education, and support, which can promote more effective approaches to decision-making for complex cases involving TGE youth, and better establish post-separation success for families. This paper proposes a mental map that leverages the body of interdisciplinary research on gender identity development and expression coupled with the use of a child-centered approach, and provides strategies for applying the mental map, with the goal of improving family court practices for cases involving TGE youth.

While there is significant extant literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual orientation and gender minority (LGBTQ+) parents and a large and growing body of research on the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth, there remains a dearth of empirical literature focused on the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth facing parental conflict, separation, and divorce. This unfortunate trend is telling as to the perceived legitimacy of LGBTQ+ identities in children and adolescents and highlights critical gaps in need of amelioration. This paper reviews and applies interdisciplinary research on LGBTQ+ youth and families, addressing complex questions raised by two de-identified cases involving the navigation of co-parenting conflicts surrounding a bisexual adolescent and a transgender adolescent. The literature review highlights the heightened mental health risks LGBTQ+ youth experience due to minority stress and familial rejection. The wider sociopolitical and legal contexts affecting LGBTQ+ youth and their families, including the harmful effects of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, are also addressed. Family court professionals are advised to take a careful multi-perspective approach to cases involving LGBTQ+ youth and to engage in advocacy and educational efforts in their respective fields to foster inclusive and supportive psycholegal environments for LGBTQ+ families in the United States and worldwide.

The recent rise in the number of daughters taking over their family businesses has attracted the attention of both the media and academia. This may be attributed to a general societal push towards gender equality and the recent focus on the “me too” movement. Some scholars even assert a trend away from male-dominated workplaces and making massive strides towards gender equality in the workplace. This phenomenon has also demonstrated the immense difficulties businesses face when experiencing shifts in leadership, emphasizing that more can be done to support women in their pursuit of success. This Note proposes per-share, incremental discounts for women-run family firms listed on the NYSE, supporting cultural change from within.

In Canada, the federal Divorce Act was revised in 2021 to include enumerated best interests factors which include a child's linguistic, religious, cultural, and spiritual heritage and upbringing, including Indigenous heritage. In this study, the authors examine how Canadian courtrooms engaged in the consideration of cultural factors prior to the recent Divorce Act amendments and compare these findings to decisions published following the amendments that mandated this specific consideration. Specific manners in which the courts have considered culture are identified, and the resulting three ‘clusters’ of decisions—including those cases (a) prioritizing a child's established culture, (b) weighing the child's greater involvement with one culture versus increased bicultural competence, and (c) considering the effect on the child of the cultural interaction—are compared pre- and post- the recent Divorce Act amendments. Implications for family court professionals are discussed.