Child Custody Flashcards
(14 cards)
What are the four types of sole and legal custody?
- Sole physical custody/joint legal custody
- Joint physical custody/joint legal custody
- Sole physical custody/sole legal custody
- Joint physical custody, sole legal custody
Who is more common to have sole physical custody?
The mother, but both are more common than equal-sharing arrangements.
What is the Best Interest of the Child Standard?
No assumption that either the mother nor father is entitled to custody; parental desire is considered secondary
The tender years doctrine
Primary caretaker rule
What is the Tender Years Doctrine?
Children of a young age and all female children are supposed to be placed with the mother unless there are extenuating circumstances.
What is the primary caretaker rule?
Courts should award sole physical custody to the parent who was primarily responsible for raising the child prior to the divorce.
What are the weakness of BICS?
Vagueness
May escalate conflict between parents
Asks courts to predict the future
What is done to solve the weakness of BICS?
Preferred custody agreements will be ordered by the court unless it can be shown that this preferred arrangement is not in the child’s best interest.
What is the Uniform Divorce Act?
Proposed 5 criteria to be used for determining custody.
1. wishes of parents
2. wishes of child
3. relationships with parents/siblings/family
4. adjustment to home, school, and community
5. physical and mental health of everyone involved with the child
What is the Approximation Rule?
When deciding child custody after parents separate, the court should try to match the amount of time the child spends with each parent to how much time each parent actually spent caring for child before the separation.
What are Mandatory Mediation Laws?
Requires couples seeking a divorce to first attempt to reach a settlement with the help of a mediator.
What happened In The Matter of Baby M case?
The Sterns paid Mary Beth Whitehead $10,000 to be a surrogate and give up her parental rights after birth.
After giving birth in 1986, Whitehead changed her mind, took the baby back, and fled.
The Sterns went to court. The trial court gave them custody and ended Whitehead’s parental rights.
On appeal, the New Jersey Supreme Court said the surrogacy contract was invalid and could not be enforced.
The court still gave custody to the Sterns (for the child’s best interests) but restored Whitehead’s parental rights and gave her visitation.
The case showed that custody decisions must focus on the child’s best interests-not just contracts= baby selling statute
What is the baby selling statute?
Refers to laws that make it illegal to exchange money or anything of value for a child.
What happened in Johnson v Calvert?
The Calverts used their own egg and sperm, and Anna Johnson was the surrogate.
After the baby was born, Johnson wanted to keep the child.
The court decided the Calverts were the legal parents because they provided the genes and planned to raise the child.
The surrogacy contract was enforced, and Johnson had no parental rights.
In California, the intended parents who provide the genetic material are the legal parents in surrogacy cases.
How does Johnson v Calvert relate to BICS?
Even if a surrogacy contract exists, the court’s main focus is whether enforcing that contract or awarding custody to a particular adult will best support the child’s emotional, physical, and psychological needs.
