Family Law & Domestic Relations Flashcards

Under the UCCJEA, a child's 'home state' is generally the state where the child lived with a parent for at least how long immediately before the custody proceeding began?

Answer: Six consecutive months

The UCCJEA defines home state as where the child lived with a parent or person acting as a parent for six consecutive months immediately before commencement (or since birth for infants under six months).

Under UIFSA, the state that issued a child support order retains continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify it as long as:

Answer: The obligor, the obligee, or the child continues to reside in the issuing state

UIFSA keeps modification jurisdiction in the issuing state while the obligor, individual obligee, or child still lives there, unless the parties consent otherwise.

A father in New York let his daughter move to live with her mother in California. In Kulko v. Superior Court, the Supreme Court held that California:

Answer: Lacked personal jurisdiction over the father for child support

Kulko held that acquiescing in a child's move to a state does not create minimum contacts sufficient for personal jurisdiction over the nonresident parent.

Under the 'divisible divorce' doctrine, a court with jurisdiction based only on one spouse's domicile may:

Answer: Dissolve the marriage but not adjudicate alimony or property rights requiring personal jurisdiction

Under Estin v. Estin and related cases, status (the divorce itself) can be adjudicated on domicile alone, but in personam financial obligations require personal jurisdiction.

In a state that recognizes common-law marriage, which element is typically required?

Answer: A present agreement to be married, cohabitation, and holding out as spouses

Common-law marriage generally requires present mutual consent to marry, cohabitation, and public representation as a married couple; no fixed duration is required.

In Troxel v. Granville, the Supreme Court struck down a broad grandparent visitation order primarily because:

Answer: It failed to give special weight to a fit parent's decision regarding visitation

The plurality held that applying the statute without deference to a fit parent's decisions violated the parent's Fourteenth Amendment due process right to rear children.

Under the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, a premarital agreement is unenforceable if the challenging party proves it was unconscionable when executed AND that party:

Answer: Was not given fair and reasonable disclosure of the other's property and did not waive such disclosure

The UPAA requires both unconscionability at execution and lack of fair disclosure (without voluntary written waiver or adequate knowledge), or alternatively involuntary execution.