Family Law
I. Getting married
A. Controversies arising in anticipation of
marriage
B. Limitations on who may marry
C. Procedural requirements
D. State of mind requirements
E. Common law marriage and other curative or mitigative doctrines
F. Premarital contracts
II. Being married
A. Rights and responsibilities of spouses
B. Family privacy1. Common law doctrine
2. Constitutional privacy
3. Reproductive choices
4. Evidentiary privilegesC. Remedies for tortious interference with the marital relationship
III. Separation, divorce, dissolution, and annulment
A. Grounds and defenses
B. Jurisdiction and recognition of decrees
C. Preliminary, interlocutory, and final orders
D. Division of property
E. Maintenance or alimony
F. Child support
G. Modification of maintenance and child support
H. Enforcement of awards
I. Mediation and other alternative means of dispute resolution
J. Separation agreements
IV. Child custody
A. Standards for decision
B. Visitation
C. Joint custody
D. Enforcement
E. Procedural issues1. Jurisdiction to decide custody
2. Child’s preference
3. Counsel for the childF. Modification
G. Mediation and other alternative means of dispute resolution
V. Rights of unmarried cohabitants
A. Rights of cohabitants inter se
B. Unmarried parents and their children:
illegitimacy1. Constitutional limits on discrimination
a. Unfavorable treatment of illegitimate children
b. Unfavorable treatment of unmarried parents2. Presumption of legitimacy
3. Establishing paternity
4. Legitimation
VI. Parent, child, and state
A. Legal disabilities of childhood
B. Duty to support
C. Intra-family immunities
D. Claims for loss of consortium
E. Parent’s right to control child’s upbringing and limitations on parental autonomy
F. Custodial disputes between parents and third parties
VII. Adoption
A. Jurisdiction
B. Agency versus independent placements
C. Parental consent
VIII. Alternatives to adoption
A. Artificial insemination by donor
B. Surrogacy arrangements
C. In vitro fertilization, gestational surrogacy, and embryo transplantation
