Fam law Flashcards
What is the normal conflict of laws question in family law?
Orders of one state should be upheld and valid in a new state unless it violates a strong public policy of another state which has a more significant relationship to the parties.
What are the types of marriage?
Ceremonial and common law marriage
What are the requirements of ceremonial marriage?
- Minimum age restrictions
- Waiting period
- Premarital medical testing (minority)
- Expiration date
When will a marriage license not be issued?
Married to someone else
Parties are too closely related
Enter into marriage as a sham
Parties are incapable of understanding the nature of the act
One or both under the influence of alcohol, drugs or another substance rendering them incapable of lack of consent due to duress or fraud
Most states require solemnization in front of two witnesses for marriage.
When is there a valid common law marriage?
When two parties
1. Agree they are married
2. Cohabit as married and
3. Hold themselves out in public as married
TIP: watch out for common law marriage not being dissolved before remarriage. Common law marriage just like ceremonial marriage must be dissolved through divorce.
**most states no longer recognize common law marriage but will uphold under the full faith and credit clause
What is a heart balm action?
Award of alimony even if not really married.
Minority
How can a marriage be dissolved?? Both ceremonial and common law.
Annulment
Divorce or
Death
What is annulment?
Voids a marriage and declares it as having never been valid.
2 types void and voidable
What would be considered void under an annulment?
Void: treated as never happened. Does NOT have to be judicially dissolved and will NOT be legally recognized for any purpose.
- Prior existing marriage
- Incest: people too closely related by a degree of kinship
- Mental incapacity
What is voidable under and annulment?
Marriage is valid until one spouse seeks to legally void the marriage. Must be a judicial decree to dissolve.
Grounds for voidable:
Age
Impotence
Intoxication
Fraud
Duress
Under an annulment a party may still be awarded child support, property division and spousal support
What are some defenses to an annulment?
Deny existence of impediment.
Remove impediment.
Defense of unclean hands, laches, estoppel
What is the puntatuve marriage doctrine?
Protects a party who is unaware of an impediment to the marriage either making it void or voidable and allows a party who gets married and believe in good faith that the marriage is valid may use divorce provisions (minority)
What is the definition of divorce?
The legal dissolution of a marriage.
What is the PJ (residency) requirement for divorce?
Most states required one of the parties be a resident today the state.
SMJ and PJ over one party
What are the two grounds for divorce?
Fault and no fault
What is the No fault ground for divorce?
A party may allege that the marriage is irretrievably broken and there is no prospect of reconciliation.
Half states require separation for sometime
What are some fault bases for divorce?
- Adultery
- Cruelty
- Desertion
- Habitual Drunkenness
- Bigamy
- Imprisonment
- Indignity
- Institutionalization
ACD HBIII
Under the cruelty fault ground for divorce what must a party show?
P must demonstrate a course of conduct by the other party that is harmful to the P’s physical or mental health and that makes the continued cohabitation unsafe or improper.
NOT one isolated incident
What is Bigamy?
One of the parties enters into the marriage knowing of a prior legal and existing marriage before the current one.
What are some defenses to fault based divorce?
- Recrimination and unclean hands (both spouses committed a marital wrongdoing of like conduct)
- Connivance: participating in the marital wrong
- Condonation (forgiveness)
- Collusion (conspiring to fabricate grounds for divorce)
- Provocation
- Insanity
- Consent
- Justification (left home bc of the others misconduct)
- Religion (will FAIL in all jxn)
What is limited divorce?
Divorce from bed and board recognized in most jxn but rarely used.
What are the two methods of division of property?
Community property and equitable distribution
How is property divided under community property states?
Distribute all marital assets evenly between the spouses as the marriage is a partnership.
How is property divided in an equitable distribution state?
Fair distribution of all marital property, taking into consideration all of the circumstances between the parties.
Not necessarily equal.
What is marital property?
Property acquired during the marriage minus gifts or inheritance.
Majority is until divorce
Minority is until separation
Note some states are hotchpot and throw it all in.
Some states took at co-mingling to determine if the property is marital property.
What are some factors considered in the distribution of marital property?
Length of marriage
Prior marriages
Age
Health
Earning potential
Liabilities
Needs of both parties
Contribution to education
Needs for future acquisitions
Income
Medical
Standard of living
**fault does not matter