Category Archives: Family Law
Leslie Katz, ‘The Testamentary Condition in Restraint of Marriage Essential to the Plot of Our Mutual Friend’
ABSTRACT Essential to the plot of Our Mutual Friend was a condition in a will made by John Harmon the elder, although it transpires that the will containing that condition was afterwards superseded. The condition was that, before obtaining his entitlement under the will, John Harmon the younger marry Bella Wilfer. The paper discusses the […]
‘Lessons Learned From Abroad About Intestate Inheritances for Unmarried Cohabitants’
E Gary Spitko, Intestate Inheritance Rights for Unmarried Committed Partners: Lessons for US Law Reform from the Scottish Experience, 103 Iowa Law Review 2175 (2018). In 2002, Professor Spitko published An Accrual/Multi-Factor Approach to Intestate Inheritance Rights for Unmarried Committed Partners in the Oregon Law Review. Since then, in 2006, Scotland statutorily began to provide […]
‘Rise in Cohabiting Couples Choosing Death Bed Marriages [UK]’
“Many couples are wedding shortly before one partner dies, presumably for the tax and probate benefits of such transactions. In the United Kingdom, everything that passes to a surviving spouse is exempt from inheritance tax. The spouse also inherits at the probate value, meaning when a major asset is sold the capital gains tax will […]
Akers and Kohm, ‘Solving Millennial Marriage Evolution’
INTRODUCTION … Part I examines the millennial desire for employment, financial security, and education as well as the impact these desires have on decisions toward marriageability. It considers the rise in numbers of single Americans, data illuminating how to define millennials, and evidence indicating that they are not convinced happiness is found in marriage. Part […]
Hitchings and Miles, ‘Rules Versus Discretion in Financial Remedies on Divorce’
Abstract This article draws on data from a recent empirical study to examine the role of discretion in financial remedy cases on divorce, particularly in the ‘everyday’ needs-based cases that constitute the bulk of the caseload in England and Wales. It explores practitioner and judicial experiences and perceptions of the discretionary Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 […]
‘Are English marriage laws compliant with the EHCR?’
“On 10 December 2018 responses were due to the government’s divorce reform proposals, Reducing family conflict: Reform of the legal requirements for divorce (September 2018). A reply to responses is due from the Government, says the Ministry of Justice, by 8 March 2019 …” (more) [David Burrows, UK Human Rights Blog, 17 December] First posted […]
Patrick Parkinson, ‘Tricked into Marriage’
Abstract Many people, in recent years, have sought a decree of nullity on the basis that they have been tricked into marriage by fraudulent misrepresentations. These applications have routinely failed because the Family Court, applying ancient principles of canon law, has held that fraud is only relevant if it goes to the nature of the […]
Margaret Briggs, ‘Historical Analysis’
Abstract This chapter provides a brief account of the history of family property law in New Zealand from the nineteenth century to the present day, in the context of relationship property on death. Briggs, Margaret, Historical Analysis (2004) in N Peart, M Briggs, R M Henaghan (General Editors) Relationship Property on Death (Thomson Brookers, Wellington, […]
Fehlberg, Sarmas and Morgan, ‘The Perils and Pitfalls of Formal Equality in Australian Family Law Reform’
Abstract In this paper, we identify the influence of formal equality – and more specifically, formal gender equality (that is, treating men and women the same) – in central areas of major Australian family law reform over the past 20 years. Given the influence of formal equality and our concerns regarding this trend, we consider […]
Sofia Yakren, ‘“Wrongful Birth” Claims and the Paradox of Parenting a Child with a Disability’
Abstract … This Article shifts the blame from mothers to the legal system. While wrongful birth proceedings portray mothers’ feelings about their children as categorically negative, real life accounts and social science findings reveal the true paradoxical experiences of all mothers, including plaintiff-mothers raising children with disabilities. To acknowledge this complex reality and mitigate the […]