Law from Birth to Death

An area of law dealing with family and domestic issues, like: Marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships Adoption, surrogacy, parenting Termination of family relationships divorce, annulment, property settlements, alimony, child support, custody, visitation rights WHAT IS FAMILY LAW?

MARRIAGE LAW IN COLORADO

When one party is currently married (bigamy is a class 6 felony) Marriage to an ancestor, descendant, or sibling Marriage between aunt and nephew or uncle and niece Prohibited marriages are void and subject to annulment PROHIBITED MARRIAGES

Parties must cohabitate (live together) Mutually agree to be married Publicly act as though they are married Joint tax returns Taking the other person’s name Joint property and finances Both parties must be 18 Couples in common law marriages must divorce if they break up COMMON LAW MARRIAGE

Be or 17 with parental consent and the court find that the marriage is in the best interest of the underage party (pregnancy alone does not establish this) Obtain a license ($30) Solemnize the marriage (judge, etc.) Register the marriage w/in 60 days CEREMONIAL MARRIAGE

Same Sex Marriage is not permitted Amendment 43 defined marriage as a union between male and female couples only Can file joint tax returns (federal or state) Can obtain spousal Social Security benefits Recognized as of 5/1/2013 Can own property jointly Can make medical decisions about each other May be able to be on one another’s health insurance Can share a nursing home room Do not have to testify against one another MarriageCivil Unions SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS

DIVORCE

Colorado is a no-fault divorce state This means you do not have to show anything more than irreconcilable differences Court cares more about: Who gets what? Who gets custody? Who pays what? DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

Similar outcome to an actual divorce Child custody and property division is the same as a dissolved marriage Used when parties need to share healthcare benefits, or their religion frowns on divorce, etc. Neither spouse can remarry without a final dissolution LEGAL SEPARATION

File dissolution petition with the court Wait 90 days Get a final dissolution decree (2 ways): Both parties agree to it (no contest) Both argue in front of the judge, who enters a judgment (settlement) DIVORCE PROCEDURES

Ends the marriage Decides the following matters: Marital property and debt allocation Spousal maintenance Custody rights Child support Restraining orders DISSOLUTION DECREE

THE PROPERTY

Separate property owned by each spouse before the marriage is retained by that spouse “Equitable” doesn’t always mean 50/50 Gifts or inheritances given to one spouse during the marriage are retained by that spouse COLORADO AN “EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION” STATE

All other property is divided up based on the following: Contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of marital property Value of each spouse’s separate property Economic circumstances of each spouse MARITAL PROPERTY, CONTINUED:

Depending on the combined income of the married couple, spousal support varies according to need and earning capacity of each spouse ALIMONY AND SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Courts are interested in what is in the best interest of the child and consider: The child’s preference Desires and wishes of each parent The child’s community (school, siblings, extended family, etc.) History of abuse or neglect CHILD CUSTODY

Among many factors, the court considers the standard of living the child experienced before the divorce Support generally continues until graduation CHILD SUPPORT

TIGER AND ELIN

$750 million to Elin Tiger must keep single women away from his kids (unless he gets remarried) Elin must remain silent (no books, interviews, etc.) even if Tiger dies first Elin gets sole physical custody of the children; Tiger get half the legal custody of the kids THE WOODS SETTLEMENT

Marital Property is property of the marriage, often it includes: Real property: houses and land Personal property: boats, cars, art Financial assets: cash, stocks, bonds Future interests: pensions, retirement funds Contractual rights Question: Who does this belong to when the marriage ends? Answer: It depends WHAT IS MARITAL PROPERTY?

Stays with the owner Generally obtained before the marriage Or, after the marriage, but given to one spouse only (gift, inheritances, etc.) Property obtained during the marriage House, wages, cars, etc. Each spouse gets ½ in a “community property” state Separate PropertyCommunity Property MARITAL PROPERTY

SANDRA BULLOCK V. JESSE JAMES

In WA, most of the assets are Community Property Each spouse is regarded as contributing to the wellbeing of the community and equally shares in the financial wellbeing of the marriage Each spouse has a ½ interest in any property acquired by the marital community 9 community property states: Washington California Texas Louisiana New Mexico Wisconsin Idaho Arizona Nevada Alaska (can choose community property) COMMUNITY PROPERTY

Most money coming into the marriage is community property, this includes: salaries and compensation Windfalls Sale of community property Interest and rent income COMMUNITY PROPERTY

Marital Community Wife’s Salary Husband’s Labor Husband’s Salary Wife’s Labor

Strong presumption that property acquired during marriage is community property However, some property is SEPARATE property This is property that belongs to a spouse individually COMMUNITY AND SEPARATE PROPERTY

Property held by a person before the marriage Property received as a gift or inheritance by a person Rents and profits from separate property remain separate property SEPARATE PROPERTY

Of course, property will get mixed together, and this becomes mixed property For example, a person may buy a house, then get married, and the make payments after the marriage using income from their salary (which is now community property). Usually a court will proportion this property Basically divide it up according to whether the money used to pay for it was community or separate MIXED PROPERTY

Mixed property can cause funny things to happen For example, a husband is injured in car accident and wins an award of 200,000 dollars (100,000 for lost wages, and 100,000 for pain and suffering) The 100,000 for lost wages is community property The 100,000 for pain and suffering is the separate property of the husband MIXED PROPERTY

When the marriage ends, each spouse gets: Separate property ½ community property However, judges have DISCRETION, and can equitably distribute property, giving one spouse more or less than ½ community property For example, if one spouse never worked and gambled away all the money, the court may award that spouse less than ½ community property PROPERTY AND DISSOLUTION

In WA, we allow for committed intimate relationships Relationship must be stable and marital-like, court will look at: Duration of relationship Cohabitation Pooling of resources Intent of parties Purpose of the relationship Court will use equitable powers to distribute property based on community property principles COMMUNITY PROPERTY AND UNMARRIED COUPLES

However, Washington does not recognize common law marriages, (unmarried couple living together like a married couple, same as a committed intimate relationship) So when distributing property at the end of the relationship, the court will use of the community property principles BUT, parties do not get any other marital rights (like rights to retirement funds, pensions or health care) This is to promote public policy of encouraging people to marry UNMARRIED COUPLES:

What happens to the kids? THE KIDS

“In any proceeding between parents… the best interests of the child shall be the standard by which the court determines and allocates the parties' parental responsibilities.” RCW This means that a court will consider the best interests of the child in deciding custody rights CUSTODY

The best interests of the child are served by a parenting arrangement that best maintains the child’s: Emotional growth Health Stability Physical care WHAT ARE BEST INTERESTS?

The best interest also means maintaining the existing interaction between parent and child as much as possible The parent child relationship is altered only: to extent necessitated by the changed relationship of the parents or to protect the child from physical, mental, or emotional harm RCW WHAT ARE BEST INTERESTS?

Only legal parents have custody rights Legal parents are: Natural parents Adoptive parents WHO ARE THE PARENTS?

1. Couples should be required to live together for six months before getting married 2. Women who take illegal drugs during pregnancy should be prosecuted for child abuse 3. If two people of the same sex want to get married and raise a child, they should be allowed to do so FAMILY LAW OPINION POLL (AGREE OR DISAGREE)

4. If a women wishes to have an abortion, she should be able to without the consent of the father 5. Parents should have the right to discipline their own children, according to their own judgment 6. High school students should have access to contraceptives at school without their parents knowledge or consent OPINIONS, CONTINUED