Newsletters

Paternity Fraud

Paternity fraud occurs when a mother or alleged father acts in a deceitful manner to either establish paternity or to show that paternity does not exist. For example, the mother may place an alleged father's name on a birth certificate who is not the biological father. The mother or alleged father may also tamper with the paternity test results.

Shared Parental Responsibility and Visitation

In a divorce proceeding, parents may consider sharing their parental responsibilities and visitation by entering into a shared or joint custody agreement. Shared custody is defined as an agreement by which the parents make arrangements to share the physical custody and control of the child as well as the legal, medical, financial, educational, emotional, and social responsibilities.

Adoption Assistance & Child Welfare Act

The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Act) was passed by Congress in 1980. Lawmakers were concerned that many children were being removed from their homes unnecessarily and that, once they entered foster care, inadequate efforts were made to either reunify them with their biological families or place them with adoptive families. The Act was passed to correct or alleviate problems in the foster care system and to promote permanency rather than multiple foster placements. An additional goal of the Act was to encourage social workers to work toward reunification of the family and to avoid long-term foster care for the children if possible. If the child could not be returned to the family, another plan was to be sought such as adoption, long-term foster care, or some other resolution.

Constitutional Rights of Children

The concept of ''children's rights'' is relatively new. For most of history, children were considered chattel and had no rights separate and apart from their parents.

Same-Sex Marriages, Civil Unions, and Domestic Partnerships

Although many people interchange the terms same-sex marriage and civil union, they are actually two different and distinct concepts. A same-sex marriage is defined as a marriage between two individuals of the same gender. A same-sex marriage involves a certain legal status for the couple. Further, each state has its own requirements with respect to marriage.