Family Law Flashcards
Getting Married
Parties may not have a prior ___ marriage to a living spouse
Undissolved
Getting Married
What Are the Procedural Requirements for a Marriage?
- License
- Solemnization
Getting Married
What Are the Requirements for a Common Law Marriage?
3 Requirements
- Consent between two people with capacity
- Cohabitation (no specified time is required)
- Couple holds themselves out to the public as spouses
A valid common law marriage will be regarded as valid in those states that dont recognize them
Getting Married
What Are the Requirements for an Enforceable Premarital Contract?
4 reqs
- The agreement must be entered into voluntarily
- The contract must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged
- Both parties must make a full and fair disclosure of their financial worth
- The economic provisions must be fair and reasonable
Termination of Marriage
Bigamy renders a marriage:
Void
Termination of Marriage
Polygamy renders a marriage:
Void
Termination of Marriage
Mental incompetence renders a marriage:
Voidable
Termination of Marriage
Lack of assent renders a marriage
Voidable
Termination of Marriage
Duress renders a marriage:
Voidable
Termination of Marriage
Fraud involving the essential elements of marriage renders the marriage:
Voidable
Termination of Marriage
Adultery, willfull desertion, extreme physical and mental cruelty, drug/alcohol addiction, and mental illness are all examples of typical:
Fault grounds for divorce
Termination of Marriage
What are the 4 traditional defenses to fault grounds?
CCC,R
- Collusion
- Connivance (consent to misconduct)
- Condonation (forgiveness)
- Recrimination (both parties are guilty)
Termination of Marriage
Jurisdiction for a divorce action is proper where:
the party is a bona fide resident of that state
Termination of Marriage
Venue for a divorce action is proper:
In the county where the spouses usually reside
Termination of Marriage
As long as one party is domiciled in the state that granted a divorce, the divorce decree is:
Valid in all other states
Termination of Marriage
Provisions of the decree relating to property rights, spousal support, child support,etc., are given full faith and credit only if:
the court had personal jurisdiction over the defendant
Termination of Marriage
The ___ approach to dividing property provides that all property acquired during the marriage is deemed owned by ____ and all prop brought into the marriage by gift/bequest is ____
Community property
1/2 by each spouse
Separate property
Termination of Marriage
The ___ approach to dividing property provides that all property is owned by either spouse, whether acquired before or after the marriage.
Equitable division
not equal, but equitable
Termination of Marriage
The most common approach to dividing prop is:
equitable division of MARITAL property
Termination of Marriage
Marital property is all property acquired by either spouse during the marriage except:
- Property acquired through gift, bequest, devise, or descent
2 Property acquired in exchange for property that a spouse owned before the marriage or acquired through gift, bequest, devise, or descent
- The income from or appreciation of property that a spouse owned before the marriage or acquired through gift, bequest, devise, or descent, unless either spouse contributed to the property’s increase in value
Separate property is includes (mnemonic = “BIG”) property acquired Before the marriage,
an Inheritance, or a Gift to one party
Termination of Marriage
Separate property may become marital property if:
- it is inextricably mingled to the extent that it can no longer be traced (commingling) or
- is treated in a way that evidences an intention for the property to be marital property (transmutation)
Termination of Marriage
What 3 most important Factors will Court Consider in Awarding Spousal Support?
Almost all states require the trial court to consider:
1. the parties’ financial resources and needs,
2. marital contributions, and
3. marital duration
The trial court has substantial discretion in choosing to award alimony.
Court may also consider time needed for the party seeking support to obtain the training necessary to find appropriate employment, ability of the payor spouse to meet his needs while paying spousal support & Marital fault (only in some states)
Termination of Marriage
____ is paid regularly (e.g., monthly) to support a spouse who has neither the resources nor the ability to be self-sustaining
Permanent periodic spousal support
Termination of Marriage
____ is periodic payments for a limited time to enable a spouse to gain skills to become self-supporting
Rehabilitative spousal support
Termination of Marriage
___ is a nonmodifiable, fixed amount payable either all at once or broken down into a series of payments
Lump sum payment
Termination of Marriage
___ is awarded to a spouse who supported the other spouse while the latter obtained a professional license or degree
Reimbursement spousal support
Child Custody
The most important jurisdictional test is what state is the child’s:
The UCCJEA
Home state
Child Custody
A child’s home state is the state in which the child:
lived with a parent (or a person acting as a parent) for at least 6 consecutive months immediately before the commencement of the proceeding
(if the child is less than six months old, the home state is where the child has lived since birth)
Child Custody
A court has jurisdiction to initially enter or to modify a child custody or visitation order if the state is the child’s home state, or:
was the child’s home state within the past six months and the child is absent from the state, but a parent or person acting as a parent (e.g., guardian) continues to live in the state
Child Custody
The standard to be applied in awarding custody is:
Best interest of the child
Child Custody
T/F: Custody orders are never modifiable
False.
Custody orders are always modifiable if there is a substantial or material change in circumstances
Child Custody
It is a strong policy of the law to promote the relationship between the child and both parents by ensuring that both parents have:
reasonable visitation rights
Child Custody
A custodial parent may not withhold visitation from a noncustodial parent because of:
a failure to pay child support
Child Custody
Courts presume that a fit parent’s decision regarding ____ is in the child’s best interest, and this decision must be given deference
third-party visitation
Parentage
Most statutes provide that any child is the lawful child of his:
Mother
Parentage
A ____ may be brought by the child’s mother, the child, or by state agencies if the child is receiving support from the state
paternity suit