Background picture of columns

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 privacy

1. Common law doctrine
2. Constitutional privacy
3. Reproductive choices
4. Evidentiary privileges

C. 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 issues

1. Jurisdiction to decide custody
2. Child’s preference
3. Counsel for the child

F. 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:
illegitimacy

1. Constitutional limits on discrimination

a. Unfavorable treatment of illegitimate children
b. Unfavorable treatment of unmarried parents

2. 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

MEE FAQs

Description of the MEE
Jurisdictions Using the MEE
Why Jurisdictions May Want to Implement the MEE

February 2009 MEE Questions

Agency and Partnership Question
Evidence Question
Decedents’ Estates Question
Real Property Question
Federal Civil Procedure and Conflict of Laws Question
Negotiable Instruments (Commercial Paper) Question
Torts Question
Family Law Question
Corporations Question

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