Category Archives: Family Law
Rob George, ‘Family Law as Social Policy: Taking Family Problems Upstream’
ABSTRACT Family law legislation has often been a focal point for reforms which are aimed as much at changing the societal attitudes and behaviours of family members as affecting their statutory entitlements or how the courts approach family disputes. There has been a tension in the approach of politicians between, on the one hand, using […]
Gerhard Kraft, ‘Family foundations: Legal framework, structures and taxation’
SUMMARY OF THE MAIN RESULTS: I. EMPIRICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Family foundations are undeniably en vogue. There has been a boom in this area for some time now. Particularly in the context of asset succession planning and the creation of optimised corporate structures, family foundations can be a highly effective instrument. Contrary to popular belief, domestic or […]
Antonio Legerén-Molina, ‘Property Regimes of European Spouses and Partners. Towards Their Unification or Just to a Certain Degree of Harmonization?’
ABSTRACT Over the centuries, in the European context, life-in-common has been organized in different ways although until very recently the undisputed predominance of marriage has stood out. In addition, the combination of today’s means of communication with the implementation of one of the fundamental goals of the European Union (EU) – the free movement of […]
Chiara Crivelli, ‘Eighteenth-Century English Marriage and Inheritance Law in Pride and Prejudice’
ABSTRACT This paper examines how Pride and Prejudice reflects the intersection of marriage, inheritance, and gender in late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth-century England, with a focus on the legal implications for women. The central research question is: ‘How does Pride and Prejudice engage with contemporary marriage and inheritance laws to reflect the economic and legal dependencies of […]
Sharon Thompson, ‘Unreported nuptial agreements in England and Wales’
ABSTRACT Pre-nuptial agreements are not binding under legislation in England and Wales but can have decisive weight on divorce provided they are not unfair. Pressure is mounting for reform, because it is not always clear when the court will determine when an agreement is unfair. However, circumspection is needed before introducing legislation that would make […]
Robert Leckey, ‘Parental union in Quebec: a model for recognizing cohabitants?’
ABSTRACT This paper introduces an international readership to an innovative policy response to cohabitation. Under a law passed in 2024 by the Canadian province of Quebec, unmarried cohabitants who become parents of the same child will automatically enter a ‘parental union’. The legislature intended parental union to protect children without marrying adults by force. This […]
Leslie Katz, ‘In Dombey and Son, Florence Dombey and Walter Gay’s Marriage was Underaged; Was it Also Underhanded?’
ABSTRACT In the paper, three matters are dealt with: (1) did Dombey give the required consent to his daughter’s marrying Walter Gay; (2) if he didn’t, did the absence of such consent invalidate the marriage; and (3) did Walter engage in any deliberate wrongdoing in procuring the solemnisation of the marriage and, if so, what […]
Leanne Smith, ‘Family Law for Family Life: Rethinking the Boundaries of Family Law’
ABSTRACT A key function of family law is to regulate family breakdown and conflict. Consequently, family law has been characterized as under threat as family disputes have been diverted from courts and lawyers, and its norms have become inaccessible to many. This article questions the scale of the threat. It argues for a rethinking of […]
Boxx, Price and Janes, ‘Beyond Marvin v Marvin: How Washington Leads the Way in Protecting Unmarried Cohabitants’
ABSTRACT ‘Wholly unrelated to … marriage, courts have recognized the existence of meretricious relationships, which this court has determined to be stable, cohabiting relationships.’ In the nearly twenty-five years since Pennington, Washington courts have developed a robust jurisprudence regarding these relationships, now called committed intimate relationships (CIRs). The equitable doctrine developed by Washington courts is […]
Ryan and McMichael, ‘The Future of Frozen Embryos’
ABSTRACT The 2024 Alabama Supreme Court decision in LePage v Center for Reproductive Medicine, which declared frozen embryos to be ‘children’, represents a significant shift in the legal treatment of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States. This Article examines the context, implications, and potential consequences of LePage for family law, tort law, and […]