Family Law Flashcards
substantive requirements for marriage
- minimum age
- not too closely related
- capacity to consent
- not already married
Procedural requirements for marriage
license
soleminzation
requirements for a common law marriage
- exchange of consent between two people with capacity
- cohabitation
- holding out publicly as spouses
requirements for an enforceable premarital contract
- 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
Possible Grounds for annulment
- Bigamy or Polygamy (void)
- Consanguinity (void)
- Nonage (void or voidable depending on state law)
- Incurable physical impotence (voidable)
- Mental incompetence (voidable)
- Lack of assent (voidable)
- Duress (voidable)
- Fraud involving the essentials of marriage (voidable)
typical grounds for a no-fault divorce
- irretrievable break down
- irreconcilable differences
- parties have been living apart for a specified time
typical fault grounds for divorce
- Adultery
- Willful desertion for a specified time
- Extreme physical or mental cruelty
- Drug addiction or habitual drunkenness
- Mental illness
Defense to fault
collusion
connivance
condonation
recrimination
collusion
an agreement between the spouses to simulate grounds for divorce or to forgo raising a valid defense
connivance
the willing consent by one spouse to the other spouse’s misconduct
condonation
the forgiveness of marital offenses with full knowledge of their
commission
recrimination
the party seeking the divorce is also guilty of misconduct for which a
divorce may be granted
where is jurisdiction proper
in a state where a party is a bona fide resident of the state
where is venue proper
in the county in which the spouses usually reside
when will a decree be recognized as valid in all other states
when at least one of the parties was domiciled in the state that granted the divorce
when are provisions of the decree relating to property rights, spousal support, child support, etc., are given full faith and credit
when the court had personal jurisdiction over the
defendant
community property
all property acquired during the marriage is deemed owned
one-half by each spouse, and all property brought into the marriage or acquired by
gift or bequest is separate property
equitable dividion
2 approaches
1. division of all property owned by either spouse, whether acquired before
or after the marriage
2. Equitable division of marital property