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Felicity Kaganas was intrigued by the legal concept of presumptions. She explored the presumption in the family law of England and Wales before and after its introduction in 2014. The presumption which began operating in the Australian Family Law Act 1975 (FLA) in 2006 stated that ‘equal shared parental responsibility’ (‘joint legal custody’ or guardianship) is in the best interests of children and created a legislative link between the making of such an order to shared parenting time orders. Many subsequent reviews of the FLA recommended amending the presumption, if not repealing it, but no changes were made. Meantime in England and Wales a less intrusive presumption was introduced, together with a Practice Direction intended to limit its over-use. Then in 2023 major changes to the FLA in Australia were introduced, including repealing the presumption. They became operative in May 2024. This article explores their potential to better protect parents and children who have experienced family violence. It also examines the potential consequences of the repeal of sections that provided guideposts when making shared care orders and others that rendered the past caring for children relevant. These losses could be detrimental to mothers and children who have lived with domestic and family violence or abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child custody cases post-parental separation entail inherent complexities and uncertainties for legal experts and decision-makers, and are influenced by context factors. This study sheds light on how legal actors (i.e., judges, prosecutors, lawyers, psychologists, and social workers) navigate the uncertainties that arise in such context and, therefore, make their decisions. Based on a reflexive thematic analysis involving 73 participants from Brazil and England, this study reveals cognitive strategies employed by legal actors to comprehend uncertainty and operate in the decision-making context. These strategies encompass heuristics (i.e., selection, evaluation, degrees of freedom, and outsourcing decisions/resolution) and metacognitive strategies (custodial arrangements, professional practices and 'best interests of the child' speech). These results provide a window into the decision-making processes in child custody cases; they offer a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted sensemaking strategies employed by legal professionals. The results carry substantial implications for informing and improving legal practice in handling complex child custody situations. Furthermore, this study charts new paths for future research by highlighting potential avenues for refining and advancing the strategies employed by legal experts in these cases, especially considering the child's best interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the Troubled Teen Industry, a network of privately run facilities that claim to help troubled youths. It highlights instances of abuse and exploitation within these facilities and argues for government oversight and regulation to prevent such abuses. The article also examines the legal framework surrounding the industry, including parents' rights, children's rights, and consumer protection. It emphasizes the need for stricter regulations and protection for vulnerable youth in these facilities. Survivors of these programs have used social media platforms to share their stories and expose the abuse they endured, leading to calls for reform and increased regulation. The article concludes by discussing proposed legislation aimed at protecting the rights of youth in these facilities. [Extracted from the article]

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This article describes a pilot research study done by the author which focused on the judicial implementation of the "best interests of the child" standard, also known as Article 5, Section 70 of the New York State Domestic Relations Law. This is the statutory principle that guides determinations of child custody in the USA. The ambiguous nature of this law grants judges significant discretion when determining the custodial arrangements for children, as it does not explicitly define what constitutes the best interests of a child. The lack of consensus surrounding this law results in marked inconsistencies in its application. In the absence of external guidance, the author presumed that judges rely heavily on their individual knowledge and conceptualization of childhood when making custody decisions, especially those regarding facts relayed by or about children. Through in‐depth interviews conducted with seven judges from the City of New York, this study sheds light on this complex and essential issue. By incorporating insights from sociological theories of law and childhood, this study provides further insight into how judges arrive at their rulings and can be used to assist in improving the lives of families who must interact with the legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there have been attempts to understand and curtail coercive control and to understand parental alienation, many parents are still being gaslit by a system designed to protect them. There have been considerable changes in Canada to the federal Divorce Act and the definition of family violence, but the "friendly parent" and "maximum contact" principles remain, despite lip service given towards the best interests of the child. This paper attempts to examine if enough is being done to understand the intersection of coercive control and parental alienation, and the "feminized irrationality" which deems protective mothers hysterical and not worthy of credibility. The intersection of coercive control and parental alienation has had such divergent research because of an antiquated conclusion that women use false allegations of abuse to secure custody of their children. Even though this has been roundly dismissed, many courts still grapple with whether there is deceit amidst domestic violence accusations. Mental health support systems, children's aid associations, and the police are being used as weapons of oppression for many women. The result is that courts dealing with the custody of children have great difficulty awarding decision-making authority to someone who is unregulated and deemed pathologically (and somehow inappropriately) concerned for her children. These organizations may be, perhaps unwittingly, using their power to debilitate further women who are simply trying to protect their children. The case study of IS v. TC is informative about how these principles were weaponized against an Indigenous mother who was characterized, without evidence, as lacking credibility and suffering from various mental disorders. Ultimately, the court ordered reunification with the father, who had alleged parental alienation, and the child was prevented from contacting his mother for a significant period. The paper finishes with an exploration of what might be done to help this problem, emphasizing the mediation model and further screening for domestic violence. Perhaps if all lawyers are screening for the signs of intimate partner violence, they can be part of the solution rather than perpetuating harmful stereotypes of mothers which abound in the family law system in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista CIENCIA UNEMI is the property of Universidad Estatal de Milagro (UNEMI) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the Turkish legal system, children born within marriage receive the father's surname. In the case of a divorce, custody of the child is usually granted to the mother. However, the child's surname does not change after the divorce, while the woman resumes her pre-marriage surname, which means the surnames of the child and the mother will differ. Due to different surnames, the child may face various problems with school life, healthcare services and may even suffer from peer pressure. The Turkish Civil Code (TCC) does not permit the woman to change the child's surname, even when she has been granted custody by court order. In this article we discuss the best interests of the child when the mother and child carry different surnames. We argue that there is inequality for women in the TCC regulations concerning the child's surname despite claims to support gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this study is to perform a critical literature review of empirical research that measures the effects of joint physical custody (JPC) on children's and parents' wellbeing from a sociological perspective. Its focus is Spain in the scope of the Second Demographic Transition (SDT). The studies reviewed show no consensus on terminology that best expresses the condition of JPC, definition of the concept of JPC, or what it is meant by best interest of the child (BIC). A systematic search was performed to locate publications on Spain from 2015–2020. The review shows that the vast majority of JPC resolutions are granted to a specific family profile: highly educated parents who have experienced a low level of family conflict. The review of theoretical antecedents raises the following unanswered questions: Is SDT culture determining the progress of the legal system? Does existing law benefit a specific segment of the parent population? Is a correspondence occurring between family change, jurisprudence, and family and economic policies that benefits children and parents? This study highlights the need for consensus in defining the concepts of JPC and BIC, as well as the measures and methodology to be applied to analyze them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attachment theory and research are drawn upon in many applied settings, including family courts, but misunderstandings are widespread and sometimes result in misapplications. The aim of this consensus statement is, therefore, to enhance understanding, counter misinformation, and steer family-court utilisation of attachment theory in a supportive, evidence-based direction, especially with regard to child protection and child custody decision-making. This article is divided into two parts. In the first part, we address problems related to the use of attachment theory and research in family courts, and discuss reasons for these problems. To this end, we examine family court applications of attachment theory in the current context of the best-interest-of-the-child standard, discuss misunderstandings regarding attachment theory, and identify factors that have hindered accurate implementation. In the second part, we provide recommendations for the application of attachment theory and research. To this end, we set out three attachment principles: the child's need for familiar, non-abusive caregivers; the value of continuity of good-enough care; and the benefits of networks of attachment relationships. We also discuss the suitability of assessments of attachment quality and caregiving behaviour to inform family court decision-making. We conclude that assessments of caregiver behaviour should take center stage. Although there is dissensus among us regarding the use of assessments of attachment quality to inform child custody and child-protection decisions, such assessments are currently most suitable for targeting and directing supportive interventions. Finally, we provide directions to guide future interdisciplinary research collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article address the lack of consistency surrounding the best interests of the child (BIOTC) standard as it has been used in child legal custody adversarial proceedings. It mentions lack of consistency surrounding the BIOTC standard as it has been used in child legal custody adversarial proceedings. It also mentions need to incorporate child welfare data from across the U.S., legal scholarship, and case law to determine which state factors or tests.

This study aims to analyse the legal decision-making process in the Community of Valencia (Spain) regarding contentious divorces particularly with respect to parental authority (patria potestas), custody and visiting arrangements for children, and the opinions of mothers and fathers on the impact these judicial measures have had on their lives. It also considers the biases in these decisions produced by privileging the rights of the adults over those of the children. Three particular moments are studied: (1) the situation before the break-up, focusing on the invisible gender gap in care; (2) the judicial process, where we observe the impact of hidden gender-based violence and gender stereotypes; and (3) the situation post-decision, showing how any existing violence continues after divorce, by means of parental authority. The concept of 'motherhood under threat' is placed at the centre of these issues, where children's voices are given the least attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to Family Bridges, an innovative educational and experiential program, aimed to provide precisely the kind of rigorous and disciplined intervention necessary to repair such a severely derailed parent–child relationship. It discusses how alienated children show remarkable, unjustified biases against their target parent, and in favor of the alienating parent.

The article offers information related to 50/50 presumption, a method for determining child custody. Topics discussed include benefit to families to institute a presumption of 50/50 custody in Michigan courts; benefits for children who live in a joint custody; and ways in which 50/50 presumption can create uniformity across Michigan and help increase efficiency within the government agencies.

Removing children from their parents is child welfare's most drastic intervention. Research clearly establishes the profound and irreparable damage family separation can inflict on children and their parents. To ensure that this intervention is only used when necessary, a complex web of state and federal constitutional principles, statutes, administrative regulations, judicial decisions, and agency policies govern the removal decision. Central to these authorities is the presumption that a healthy and robust child welfare system keeps families together, protects children from harm, and centers on the needs of children and their parents. Yet, research and practice-supported by administrative data-paint a different picture. They suggest a system that haphazardly and needlessly removes children from parents through an impersonal process driven by the convenience of the system at the expense of families. In fact, some of the processes designed to protect children from harm directly cause trauma to them. Too often, child welfare professionals remove children based on misplaced confidence in that safety intervention and without careful consideration of the consequences thereof. Whenever professionals remove children from their parents without carefully balancing the risks created by that intervention, they are culpable for the harm to children and their parents. This Article focuses on how children and parents interacting with the child welfare system experience the removal process, the genesis of a foster care case. It analyzes the gaps and emergent issues in practice, research, and policy related to child removal. The Article concludes with specific policy and practice recommendations aimed at curbing child welfare's reliance on removal tofoster care as its predominant safety intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to the Uniform Nonparent Custody and Visitation Act (UNCVA), a statutory framework for resolving conflicts about third-party access to children It further discuss the enigmatic case of Troxel v. Granville, that recognizes a baseline presumption favoring parental authority over children's custody and care but provides no real guidance for determining when deference to parental decision-making is not required.

The article focuses on the same-sex-couple child custody dispute in the U.S. Topics discussed include use of psychological parent doctrine by states to address traditional parentage expectations in light of present-day challenges; parental rights and the child's best interest in the case of same-sex partners; and Ferrand v. Ferrand court case on the same.

In 2012, four Italian children unlawfully retained in Australia by their mother were sent back to Italy, even though they had been in Australia for over 2 years, all four objected to being returned and the two elder children were aged 12 and 14 years at the time of the first hearing. The High Court of Australia ruled that the children had been afforded natural justice and that their views had been appropriately heard and considered, despite the children not having had legal representation or the opportunity to express their views directly. This article examines the meaning and operation of the 'children's objection' exception to a mandatory return order made in Australia pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. While the general rule is that children unlawfully taken from their home country by a parent must be returned, Article 13 gives a court discretion to refuse to return a child if the child objects and is of sufficient age and maturity. In Australia, the child's objection must also show a 'strength of feeling' beyond a mere preference or ordinary wishes. The authors discuss the limitations of the current procedures for hearing children's objections in light of the child's right to be heard pursuant to Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and advocate greater use of Independent Children's Lawyers and meetings between children and judges in Hague Convention cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusess the efforts taken by the courts in applying rule of a two parent family for the best interest of the child in the U.S. Topics discussed include impact of same-sex marriage laws on the same; take of courts on child custody and maintaining parent-child relationship; and California's Senate Bill 274.

Suspension of custody as a right of the child may lead to psychosocial risks considered as potential dangers to the well-being of the child, his family or his community in various dimensions. It is therefore important to consider the possibility of these psychosocial risks when making these judicial decisions about the loss of parental rights. The phenomenon of psychosocial risk has been more studied in working environments and also linked to health problems. This fact assigns a new connotation to this study, since it opens the door to the interdisciplinarity from Psychology and Law, when investigating if the psychosocial risks in the judicial decisions on loss of parental authority are taken into account. The research aims to identify psychosocial risks considered by family judges in decisions about loss of custody. The type and design research is qualitative, since one of its general pretensions is the understanding. The sources of information are two. The first corresponds to 50 pre-selected court documents in the Colombian cities of Bogota, Tunja and Duitama. The other is a group interview with 8 family judges. The documents were analyzed by means of a protocol. For the design and implementation of the protocol, categories oriented by interdisciplinary research team objectives, theoretical support and expectations were made. The interview consisted of a focus group interview with family judges (four men and four women). The audio of the interview was transcribed literally and an inductive categorical analysis was made. Results of the analysis of the interview and documents were contrasted. Judicial documents reviewed show that judges use syllogistic logic when seeking to accommodate situations to the causal. Within the judicial decisions it is observed that the best interest of the minor is not privileged. The analysis of the interview in which the use of experience and intuition is observed following a realistic logic, invites us to reflect on aspects such as: the subjectivity of judges in the evaluation, the pressure they face on the number of lawsuits and the speed of judgment, and the need to revise the causal deprivation of liberty superior to one year. The judges manifest a deficit in the interdisciplinary work and the lack of more training in aspects of mental health that would make possible the use of psychological reports and the greater understanding of causes such as disability. It was possible to identify a pattern that leads to the decision of loss of custody power by abandonment (most common causal): (1) Search for legal advice. (2) To promote the notoriety of the physical and emotional distance between the defendant and the child. (3) Establish the claim. (4) Accumulate evidential evidence on the causal. (5) Obtain witnesses. In the discussion generated in the group interview, judges recognize psychosocial risks that are not exposed in the court document or sentence. Finally there is the need to assess in more detail the relational history of the parental couple, as they tend to be psychological consequences that affect parenting skills. The discussion between the researchers of Family Psychology and those of Family Law appear questions that build an interdisciplinary bridge. One limitation of the study was that it was not possible to have sufficient time and resources to conduct group and individual interviews with a greater number of family judges in other cities of the country and achieve more generalizable results. The research question on whether judges take into account the risks to make the decisions is answered that it attends to the grounds provided in the law taking the decision guided by the syllogistic logic. Causals can be equated with psychosocial risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The California Legislature recently amended the California Family Code by granting courts the authority and discretion to find that a child can have more than two parents. This Article addresses the issues raised by this amendment, focusing on the rare instances in which rejecting a third parent's claim for custody would be detrimental to the child. By exploring public perceptions of multiple parentage and assessing recent cases highlighting the discretion courts use to find that a child has more than two parents, this Article concludes that recognizing that a child has more than two parents can protect not only the rights and benefits of children, but also their emotional, psychological, and financial needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, American state laws have recognized that the federal constitutional right to the care, custody, and control of a child vests in either the heterosexual birth parents or the adoptive parents of the child. Recently, state laws have also recognized this parental right of "care, custody, and control" to opposite sex unmarried couples who bore the child of sex. Even more recently, state laws have recognized this parental right for those who did not engage in sexual intercourse leading to a pregnancy and birth. State laws have also increasingly limited this childcare right of traditionally recognized parents by allowing nonparents to secure court-ordered childcare over the objections of current parents, whether by recognizing these nonparents as de facto parents or as third parties with childcare standing. While state childcare law opportunities have evolved significantly as family structures, genetic testing, and assisted reproduction techniques have changed, the laws on parental and nonparental child support have not changed much. This Article explores actual and potential child support laws arising from the new childcare laws for both parents and nonparents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on challenges surrounding the practice of unregulated custody transfers in the U.S. Topics discussed include safeguarding the best interests of children adopted internationally; efforts of international law in prevention of problems surrounding children's rights, illegal adoption, and human trafficking; and Child Rights Convention.

This essay examines the role of racial, ethnic, and cultural bias in custody cases. It analyzes cases where the court explicitly considered the parents' racial, ethnic, or cultural background and cases where the court did not acknowledge these factors but where it is clear from the court's opinion that biases influenced its decision. It then briefly describes the literature on implicit bias to demonstrate how biases may influence the assessments of custody evaluators, lawyers, and judges despite best efforts to make fair and impartial decisions. Drawing on studies suggesting that individuals can reduce their implicit biases and their effects on decision making, the essay explores individual strategies and institutional reforms to address bias in custody disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how courts in Massachusetts looks at the child's preference in divorce and custody proceedings. Topics discussed include means of determining a child's custodial preference; benefits of judicial interviews of children; and ways in which children are able to avoid the adversarial process and the attendant emotional trauma.

The article focuses on the child custody laws in Alabama. Topics discussed include national trend towards shared parenting laws; best interest standards for determining initial custody arrangement between parents; and encouraging and promoting changes in the custody laws in Alabama related to gender biased parenting.

The article discusses how courts in the U.S should address an older child's objection to Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) and ensure meaningful consideration of the child's perspective. Topics discussed include statutes that create exceptions to TPR when an older child objects and the case law relating to those exceptions; consideration of a child's objection; and termination of the parents' rights is in the child's best interests.

The article explores ways in which balancing a child's interest and a parent's fundamental right when granting de facto parent status can be done. It reports the negative impact and psychological harm that a child can suffer when an individual who has acted as that child's parent for a significant amount of time is removed from that child's life; role of abusive parents; and impact of child abuse on children.

The article explores ways in which balancing a child's interest and a parent's fundamental right when granting de facto parent status can be done. It reports the negative impact and psychological harm that a child can suffer when an individual who has acted as that child's parent for a significant amount of time is removed from that child's life.

This article recommends a modification of the child interview and observational components of the conventional child custody evaluation. By scheduling these events in back-to-back sequence, the evaluator adds critical process-oriented data to familiar content-oriented data. These additional data include at least eight landmark separation, reunion, and transition events valuable to understanding the dynamic family system. The benefits of this protocol are discussed in terms of the ecological validity of available data, reduced evaluation time and costs, and research. Limitations are discussed relevant to questions of sampling bias, fatigue and sequence effects, and practical dilemmas that arise when evaluating families with many children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the characteristics of attorneys representing children in child welfare cases. Topics discussed include enactment of the 1974 Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) in the U.S.; the American Bar Association's (ABA) standards for child representatives; and circumstances of attorneys representing children in dependency cases.

The article examines the importance of supervised visit and exchange programs for families caught in high-conflict separation and divorce for or the parent-child relationship. Topics discussed include consequences of violence for children and parents, ways in which children can maintain regular contact with both parents after separation. It also presents a Supervised Visitation Checklist (SVC).

The article examines the U.S. legislative framework concerning the parenting time adjustment in child support awards. Topics discussed include the shared custody of child. laws regarding the shared custody adjustment in different U.S. states; child support guidelines; and income-shares child support guideline.

The article examines the U.S. legislative framework concerning the shared custody of child. Topics discussed include different laws regarding the shared custody adjustment in different U.S. states; child support guidelines; shared custody laws in Maryland and New Jersey; and income-shares child support guideline.

The article discusses how Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) is better than the abduction convention concerning international adduction of children. Topics discussed include laws regarding international movement of children; 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction; and enactment of the UCCJEA in the U.S. as measures for the protection of children.

The article explores the purposes and contents of the U.S. Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act. Topics discussed include protections and procedures for service members and non-deploying parents for arrangements for custody of their child, procedures upon the return of the absent military parent, and provision for expeditious and fair resolution of custody and visitation issues under the act.

Parental alienation, when one parent engages in behaviors to turn a child against the other parent, is a serious problem. Such behavior can manifest following a parents' divorce or separation and can have long-lasting and damaging effects on children. Although both family law and tort law offer various remedies for parental alienation, this Note argues that parental alienation is best handled through family law. Accordingly, the best interest of the child standard should be modified to include parental alienation to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Additionally, courts should utilize the therapeutic intervention approach to mitigate the harms of parental alienation when it has already occurred instead of automatically modifying custody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the significant need, purpose and role of two types of child advocates including Attorney for the Minor Child (AMC) and Guardian ad Litem (GAL), in protecting the child's rights and his best interests in parental custody disputes litigated in family courts of Connecticut. It discusses judicial decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court in the case of Carrubba v. Moskowitz, in which the Court examined the role of the AMC's in protecting child's best interests.

The article discusses several changes for domestic relations attorneys in Tennessee in relation to child custody matters and the best interest of the child legal doctrine under the Tennessee Code Annotated. Permanent parenting plans and statutes in Tennessee are addressed, along with the legal aspects of parental relocation determinations and the Tennessee Legislature. Legislative amendments and court orders are examined, along with Tennessee's Rules of Civil Procedure.

Copyright of Revue Juridique Thémis is the property of Editions Themis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article deals with the definition of best interest standard in the judicial determination of child custody before domestic courts in Wisconsin. Topics discussed include the historical evolution of the child custody and placement standards in the state, the statutory language used in ascertaining the best interest of the child and the adoption of the motherly presumption in these cases. Also discussed are the use of character assassination to gain custody and the creation of an equal split.

The article focuses on U.S. court honoring child custody arrangements and contracts made between parents living apart in 2014. Topics include the application of the best-interests-of-the-child standard, and the need for judicial intervention in child custody arrangements between parents. Information is provided on the courts' treatment of marriage or divorcing parents compared to parents that live apart.

The article focuses on the impact of past caretaking on child custody decision making in the U.S. in 2014. Topics include the best-interests-of-the-child standard, child welfare in custody arrangements, and fairness in domestic relations law in the U.S. Information is provided on the favoring of a child's primary caregiver in child custody decision making.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including child custody decision making, the best interest standard, and the foster care of children in the U.S. in 2014.

The article focuses on child custody under U.S. domestic relations law between 1975 and 2014. Topics include the best-interests-of-the-child standard, child custody decisionmaking by U.S. courts, and the problems of indeterminacy. Information is provided on the psychological impact of custody arrangements on children.

The article focuses on the application of the best-interests-of-the-child standard in the resolution of disputes between divorced or divorcing parents in the U.S. Topics include Robert Mnookin's 1975 article "Child-Custody Adjudication: Judicial Functions in the Face of Indeterminacy," the adoption of no-fault divorce in the U.S., and the role of lawyers in the child custody decisionmaking process.