Chapter 5 Child Custody

Question 0

What is used to prevent judges from basing custody decisions on their own subjective views of what is best for child?

Answer 0

Nexus. There must be a direct nexus or connection between the parental attribute in question and the well-being of the child.

Question 1

What are the factors that judges tend to emphasize in custody determinations?

Answer 1

1. The parent-child bond
2. Past caretaking
3. Time availability
4. Stability of environment
5. Preference of the child
6. Domestic violence

Question 2

What is the landmark case that decided that equality could be accomplished by providing same-sex couples with the tangible benefits of marriage?

Answer 2

Baker v. Vermont

Question 3

And what case did the New Jersey Supreme Court award same-sex couples the rights to the benefits and protections of marriage without actually making civil marriage legal between same-sex couples?

Answer 3

Louis V. Harris

Question 4

What case before the Massachusetts supreme judicial Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry?

Answer 4

Goodridge V. Department of Public Health

Question 5

In what case did the US Supreme Court reverse a Florida trial court decision transferring custody of a young girl from her mother to her father because the white mother married a black man subsequent to the divorce?

Answer 5

Palmore V. Sidoti

Question 6

What is the approach called when it is presumed without proof of harm that it is bad for a child to be raised by a parent vs. another parent?

Answer 6

Per se approach

Question 7

Physical custody

Answer 7

Refers to where a child lives. A parent with physical custody maintains a primary residence for the child is generally responsible for the child’s daily care

Question 8

Legal custody

Answer 8

Refers to decision-making authority. legal custody gives a parent the right to make major decisions affecting the health welfare and education of a child

Question 9

Sole custody

Answer 9

The vesting of custodial rights in one parent. Can be either legal or physical.

Question 10

Joint custody

Answer 10

Sharing of rights and responsibilities; both legal and physical custody can be allocated on a joint basis

Question 11

Implied in fact contract

Answer 11

The contract that is inferred from the conduct of the parties

Question 12

Testamentary capacity

Answer 12

The legal ability to dispose of one’s property at that through the execution of a will

Question 13

Married women’s property acts

Answer 13

The series of statutory reforms that gradually improved the legal status of married women, principally through extending rights of property ownership and control that had been denied at common law

Question 14

Standing

Answer 14

A jurisdictional concept that requires a person to have a sufficient stake in the outcome of a controversy in order to be allowed to maintain a legal action.

Question 15

Parens Patriae

Answer 15

The authority of the state, as a sovereign power, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, most notably children.

Question 16

Troxel V. Granville

Answer 16

A US Supreme Court case that ruled that the state of Washington’s open-ended statute Lowercase allowing petitions for visitation by any person was an impermissible encroachment on the rights of parents.

Question 17

Equitable parenthood

Answer 17

A doctrine used to extend parenting rights to a stepparent when there is a developed, consensual relationship between the child and the stepparent, and he or she wishes to assume the rights and responsibilities of parenthood.

Question 18

In loco parentis

Answer 18

Common-law doctrine conferring parental rights and responsibilities on someone who voluntarily assumes a parenting role.

Question 19

What is the significance of the 1996 case of Holzman V. Knott?

Answer 19

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin became the first court to expressly extend de facto parent status to a lesbian coparent.

Question 20

De facto parent

Answer 20

An individual who has no biological relation to a child, but who is functioned as a family member; must show that that they resided with the child and shared caretaking responsibilities with the consent and cooperation of the legal parent

Question 21

Per se approach

Answer 21

As distinct from the nexus approach, the idea that some behaviors are so inherently harmful that they should be the basis for denying custody to a parent without proof of actual harm

Question 22

Tender years presumption

Answer 22

The traditional custodial assumption that children of a young age should be raised by their mothers.

Question 23

Paternal preference

Answer 23

The common-law doctrine that vested fathers with the absolute right to care and custody of their children.

Question 24

Primary caretaker presumption

Answer 24

A legal rule that gives preference to the primary caretaker parent in the event of a custody dispute.

Question 25

Virtual visitation

Answer 25

The use of email and the Internet has a way to supplement communication between child and a noncustodial parent

Question 26

Filius nullius

Answer 26

Child of no one, a bastard

Question 27

Presumption of paternity

Answer 27

The legal assumption that the father of a child born to a married woman is the woman’s husband.

Question 28

Legitimation

Answer 28

The process of altering the status of a child born to unmarried parents so that he or she is the legal equivalent of a child born to married parents

Question 29

What is the significance of the 1968 landmark Supreme Court case Levy v. Louisiana?

Answer 29

The Supreme Court held that the state of Louisiana had violated the equal protection clause by denying a child the right to recover for the death of his mother under the state’s wrongful death law because he was illegitimate

Question 30

What is the significance of the 1972 Supreme Court case Stanley V. Illinois?

Answer 30

The court found that Stanley, an unwed father, could not be deprived of custody without a hearing. The court recognized the potential for meaningful relationships between unwed fathers and their children.

Question 31

What is the significance of the 1983 Supreme Court case Lehr v. Robertson?

Answer 31

The court clarified that the rights of unwed fathers do not spring into being based solely on the biological link between father and child. A man must act like a father to be legally recognized as one and thus entitled to an equal say regarding adoption.