Child Custody

Question 1

Paternal Preference

Answer 1

originated in Roman times. under common law, children were property of the father.

Question 2

Tender Years doctrine

Answer 2

mother presumed appropriate caretaker for boys <7 and all girls

Question 3

Best Interest of the Child doctrine

Answer 3

Challenges parental sex preference as violation of Equal Protection. Abolishes Paternal Preference and Tender Years doctrines.

Question 4

Painter v Bannister

Answer 4

Iowa Supreme Court, 1966. established “best interests standard.”
Mr. Painter’s wife killed in accident, and grandparents refused to return his son to him in CA. Grandparents were awarded custody due to his Bohemian lifestyle.

Question 5

Uniform Marriage & Divorce Act, 1974

Answer 5

(ABA) 5 criteria to be considered in determining best interests of the child:
- wishes of parents
- wishes of child
- relationship of child with others
- child’s adjustment
- mental & physical health of all parties

Question 6

Primary Caretaker doctrine

Answer 6

In some states, preference is given to the parent who performs the most caretaking duties.
No empirical evidence supports this approach after age 5.

Question 7

Least Detrimental Alternative doctrine

Answer 7

Psychological Parent concept, developed by Goldstein, et al.
Grants sole custody to one parent, who determines visitation for other parent. Non-custodial parent has no legal rights.

Question 8

Parental Preference model

Answer 8

examines pre-divorce parental roles, and judicial process tries to approximate the roles. e.g. same parent keeps picking kid up from school, if that’s what they did before. Concern regarding parent manipulating role prior to divorce.

Question 9

types of custody

Answer 9

• physical
• legal
• joint (most common): shared legal custody & physical custody alternating on a schedule
• informal
• divided: each parent has child for a portion of the yr or on alternating yrs
• protective: court retains legal custody and assigns physical custody to someone else
• guardianship: transfer of physical and legal custody to someone other than parents; doesn’t necessarily involve termination of parental rights
• adoption: permanently severs all legal ties btw parent and child and creates a new parent-child relation

Question 10

joint custody outcomes

Answer 10

success depends on parents
more father child visits
increased maternal satisfaction
faster maternal repartnering
fewer child adjustment problems
fewer psychosomatic symptoms
fewer psychological issues

Question 11

mediation

Answer 11

mandated by many states if private agreement cannot be reached, prior to proceeding to litigation

Question 12

standard of proof for custody litigation

Answer 12

preponderance of the evidence (civil proceeding)

Question 13

Adams and Light (2015) study

Answer 13

analyzed 19,000 studies related to same sex parenting. no differences in child development found.

Question 14

Farr (2017) study

Answer 14

measured adjustment of school age children in same-sex vs heterosexual families
adjustment was predicted by:
- earlier childhood adjustment issues
- parental stress

Question 15

Troxel v Granville

Answer 15

parents separated, father lived with grandparents, father committed suicide, mother limited grandparents’ visitation, grandparents sued and were granted visitation by trial court.
USSC (2000) said Washington’s statute allowing “Any person to petition the court for visitation rights at any time when in the best interests of the child” was too broad and violated Due Process rights of mother to make family decisions.

Question 16

Palmore v Sidoti

Answer 16

USSC 1984. White parents divorced, mother remarried Black man, Florida court granted father custody. USSC held that race should not be deciding factor in awarding custody.

Question 17

Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, 1968

Answer 17

limits custody jurisdiction to child’s home state. attempt to prevent parent seeking different custody outcome in other states via kidnapping.

Question 18

Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, 1980

Answer 18

authorizes issuance of federal warrants for kidnappers

Question 19

Hague Convention, 1980

Answer 19

treaty between countries to secure prompt return of child if taken to another country

Golan v Saada (USSC 2022): Golan fled DV in Italy with her child, refused to return. USSC held that court doesn’t have to examine all ameliorative measures before denying return of kid once the court has found that return would expose the kid to grave risk of harm.

Question 20

International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA), 1988

Answer 20

establishes procedures to facilitate prompt return of child to home country

Question 21

parental alienation syndrome

Answer 21

coined by Dr. Richard Gardner, not in DSM. child becomes aligned with one parent and denigrates the other.

Question 22

Wallerstein Study, 1980

Answer 22

“California Study.” followed 131 kids from 60 families. 40% were “clinically disturbed” at 5 yo. boys showed early effects, girls showed “sleeper effects”

Question 23

Hetherington Study, 2002

Answer 23

tracked 1400 families and 2500 children. Vast majority functioning “reasonably well” within 2 years. 25% vs 10% with “serious” problems.

Question 24

Golan v Saada

Answer 24

USSC 2022
A court is not required to examine all possible ameliorative measures before denying a Hague Convention petition for return of child to foreign country once the court has found that return would expose the child to a grace risk of harm.