Inequity in Private Child Custody Litigation
نویسنده
چکیده
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 R I. DEMOGRAPHICS OF MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD IN 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 R II. STRUCTURE AND CULTURE OF FAMILY COURT . . . . . . . . . . 208 R A. History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 R B. Current Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 R C. Common Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 R 1. Litigants in Family Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 R 2. Exploding Dockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 R 3. Status and Reputation in the Legal Profession 215 R III. DISCRETIONARY NATURE OF CUSTODY MATTERS . . . . . . . . 218 R A. Best Interest of the Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 R B. Unclear and Controversial Role of Guardians ad Litem 220 R IV. THE EFFECTS OF THE JURISDICTIONAL DIFFERENCES ON CUSTODY MATTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 R A. New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 R 1. Different Rules & Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 R 2. Use of Child’s Attorneys in New York Family Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 R 3. Use of Court Ordered Investigations by ACS in Family Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 R B. Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 R 1. JDR Is Not a Court of Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 R 2. Use of Guardians ad Litem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 R V. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 R
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