Description
CAMBRIDGE A Parent-Partner Status for American Family Law 2015 Edition by Merle H. Weiner
Despite the fact that becoming a parent is a pivotal event, the birth or adoption of a child has little significance for parents' legal relationship to each other. Instead, the law relies upon marriage, domestic partnerships, and contracts to set the parameters of parents' legal relationship. With over forty percent of American children born to unwed mothers and consistently high rates of divorce, this book argues that the law's current approach to regulating parental relationships is outdated. A new legal and social structure is needed to guide parents so they act as supportive partners and to deter uncommitted couples from having children. This book is the first of its kind to propose a new 'parent-partner' status within family law. Included are a detailed discussion of the benefits of the status as well as specific recommendations for legal obligations. Table of contents :- 1. The disconnect between the facts and the law; 2. The absence of the 'parent-partner' status; 3. The inadequacy of existing constructs; 4. Reform efforts: slowly moving forward; 5. The new status in theoretical perspective; 6. The benefits of the new status for children; 7. The benefits of the new status for the community; 8. Ambitions for the new status; 9. New non-monetary obligations; 10. A new relationship work obligation; 11. New obligations with financial implications; 12. Possible concerns about the status.