SAME‐SEX MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE: A PROPOSAL FOR CHILD CUSTODY MEDIATION*

Same‐sex marriage is a contentious, politically charged issue full of diverse, complicated considerations. In 2003, Massachusetts joined the list of jurisdictions to legalize same‐sex marriage, the first in the U.S. Now that same‐sex couples can marry in particular international jurisdictions, governments must address how to sensitively allow these couples to divorce. Same‐sex couples have a unique set of needs and issues, most clearly demonstrated if children are involved in the marriage. This Note argues for the creation of mediation programs in American jurisdictions with same‐sex marriage, to specifically determine child custody agreements upon divorce.     

假结婚、假离婚与错结婚的认定和处理

婚姻法只规定了四种法定无效情形和一种可撤销婚姻。对于假结婚、假离婚与错结婚争睛形如何认定和处理，没有法律规定，实践中往往适用民法总则无效民事效力行为的规定，将其认定为无效婚姻。这是错误的，婚姻有效与无效有其独立的评判规则，不能适用适用民法总则。因而，假结婚、假离婚与错结婚一般不能认定其行为无效。     

Fraud in courtship: Annulment and divorce

The possibility of fraud exists in any contract. Courts and custom allow some amount of fraud before voiding the contract. The same principles hold for marriage. This paper provides a comparative analysis of annulment and divorce, shows that there exists a socially optimal amount of fraud in marriage, and demonstrates how changes in the locale's divorce regime result in changing demand for annulments. While substitutability between annulment and divorce is limited, annulment is shown to become more valuable for introducing fault when the divorce regime shifts to no fault. As European nations harmonize their family laws, they should be conscious of this substitutibility.     

EXPLAINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCARCERATION AND DIVORCE

Recent studies have suggested that incarceration dramatically increases the odds of divorce, but we know little about the mechanisms that explain the association. This study uses prospective longitudinal data from a subset of married young adults in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 1,919) to examine whether incarceration is associated with divorce indirectly via low marital love, economic strain, relationship violence, and extramarital sex. The findings confirmed that incarcerations occurring during, but not before, a marriage were associated with an increased hazard of divorce. Incarcerations occurring during marriage also were associated with less marital love, more relationship violence, more economic strain, and greater odds of extramarital sex. Above‐average levels of economic strain were visible among respondents observed preincarceration, but only respondents observed postincarceration showed less marital love, more relationship violence, and higher odds of extramarital sex than did respondents who were not incarcerated during marriage. These relationship problems explained approximately 40 percent of the association between incarceration and marital dissolution. These findings are consistent with theoretical predictions that a spouse's incarceration alters the rewards and costs of the marriage and the relative attractiveness of alternative partners.     

Household dissolution, child care and divorce law

This paper sets up a model of household dissolution in which one party decides to leave a household that contains children. We study the effects of divorce law on this decision and, in particular, the role of legal provisions governing the post-dissolution care of the household’s children. In particular, we show that there is an inevitable tension between achieving efficiency in marriage and at the same time achieving efficiency in divorce.     

The Division of Marital Assets Following Divorce

In this paper, several possible bases for post-divorce asset division are examined from an economics-of-law perspective, focusing in particular on the incentives for opportunistic behaviour set up by the use of reliance, restitution, partnership, rehabilitation, and needs-based approaches. The current focus of marital law in England and Wales on a mixture of needs-based and contractual elements in divorce settlements is vulnerable to the charge that behaviour is encouraged in both males and females that is predatory in nature. The contractual uncertainty that follows from this may well deter some good quality marriages that might otherwise occur. The paper explores the case for using an expectations-damages approach, given that this can deter opportunistic divorce. The conclusions favour an updated and flexible view of the marriage contract. The paper draws extensively on the American literature covering property settlements.     

WHEN THE TIES THAT BIND UNWIND: EXAMINING THE ENDURING AND SITUATIONAL PROCESSES OF CHANGE BEHIND THE MARRIAGE EFFECT

Despite the continued growth of research demonstrating that marriage promotes desistance from crime, efforts aimed at understanding the mechanisms driving this effect are limited. Several theories propose to explain why we observe a reduction in offending after marriage including identity changes, strengthened attachments, reduced opportunities, and changes to routine activities. Although mechanisms are hard to measure, we argue that each proposed mechanism implies a specific change process, that is, whether the change that ensues after marriage is enduring (stable) or situational (temporary). Drawing on a medical model framework, we cast the role of marriage as a treatment condition and observe whether the effect of marriage is conditional on staying married or whether the effect persists when the “treatment” is taken away (i.e., divorce). We use 13 years of monthly level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97), a nationally representative sample containing close to 3,000 individuals with an arrest history, to examine changes in relationship status and arrest from adolescence into young adulthood. Estimates from multilevel within‐individual models reveal greater support for situational mechanisms in that divorce is detrimental particularly for those in longer marriages; yet they also reveal important caveats that suggest a closer examination of the marriage effect. This research adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding the marriage effect by redirecting desistance research away from asking if marriage matters to asking how marriage affects desistance. A better understanding of this change process has important implications for criminal justice policy.     

Sacred Spaces,Sacred Words: Religion and Same‐sex Marriage in England and Wales

This article provides an analysis of the ways in which the spatial and illocutionary requirements of English marriage law – which regulate the spaces in which marriages may be solemnized and the words the parties being married must speak – have been used to maintain distinctions between same‐sex and opposite‐sex couples. It shows how religious opponents of same‐sex partnership recognition have relied upon historically entrenched differences between the spatial and illocutionary aspects of ‘civil marriage’ and ‘religious marriage’ to argue in favour of the enactment of law that enables organized religions to exclude same‐sex couples from religious premises and ceremonies that are open to opposite‐sex couples for the purpose of solemnizing marriage. It extends recent international debates about how faith‐based discrimination against same‐sex couples is accommodated by legislators and legitimized by law, and concludes with a consideration of how English law could be amended to end discrimination based on sexual orientation.     

民国民法中离婚权利的司法实践——以新繁县司法档案案例为线索

民国民法颁行后,传统法律对妇女离婚权利的约束和否定得到纠正,在司法实践中,妇女也开始运用民国民法提出离婚诉讼以维护自身的权利。以民国新繁县司法档案中的李绍先案为线索,结合该县同时期30余件离婚案件,可以描述出民国民法实施以后,在基层社会中,妇女是如何依据现代婚姻法律赋予的离婚权利进行离婚诉讼的司法场景的,从而说明,民国民法的离婚制度不仅在立法上取得了进步,而且在实际上也的确促进了妇女权利意识的觉醒。     

'These boots are made for walking': why most divorce filers are women

Because of the financial and social hardship faced after divorce,most people assume that generally husbands have instigated divorcesince the introduction of no-fault divorce. Yet women file fordivorce and are often the instigators of separation, despitea deep attachment to their children and the evidence that manydivorces harm children. Furthermore, divorced women in largenumbers reveal that they are happier than they were while married.They report relief and certainty that they were right in leavingtheir marriages. This fundamental puzzle suggests that the incentivesto divorce require a reexamination, and that the forces affectingthe net benefits from marriage may be quite complicated, andperhaps asymmetric between men and women. This paper considerswomen's filing as rational behavior, based on spouses' relativepower in the marriage, their opportunities following divorce,and their anticipation of custody.     

当代中国离婚率研究

一、基本情况 身份法包括离婚法是受中国固有文化传统影响最为深远的法律领域。而在世界历史的发展潮流中，不同国家的婚姻观念和制度也出现了某种程度的融合。中国现行离婚制度既有对民族优秀文化传统的承继与弘扬，也有随着时代进步的不断改革与更新。 中国古代社会是宗法社会。重祖宗而不重“上帝”，重宗法信条而不重宗教信条。在传统理念中。婚姻是一种普通的民事关系．离婚是一种正常的婚姻行为。以世俗的眼光和社会生活的需要作为评判婚姻质量的标准。作为婚姻关系取舍的根据。这就形成了与欧洲中世纪寺院法之下“禁止离婚主义”完全不同的“许可离婚主义”，它深刻地影响着当今中国人的婚姻观念。使人们能够普遍接受“不会理的婚姻关系理应解除”的准则。     

设立我国分居制度的社会基础及其制度构想（下）

根据我国《婚姻法》＂保障离婚自由,防止轻率离婚＂的立法指导思想,设立符合我国国情的分居制度,可以为婚姻当事人提供一个离婚的缓冲期间,为双方提供一个冷静思考的机会,使其慎重地处理面临的婚姻家庭纠纷,从而理性地决定是否离婚。这既有利于保护婚姻当事人及其子女的利益,也有利于维护社会的和谐与稳定。     

Divorce Israeli Style: Professional Perceptions of Gender and Power in Mediated and Lawyer-Negotiated Divorces

This study examines how the power of women is constructed by divorce professionals in a divorce process that is governed by rabbinical family law, the egalitarian ideology of the recently established family courts, and the growing use of mediation in divorce disputes. It is based on 254 questionnaires and 57 interviews with lawyers, mediators, and lawyer-mediators. We found that except for a minority of women lawyers, practitioners claimed that women were not disadvantaged by family law, and that mediation does not adversely affect weaker parties. However, their reactions to hypothetical situations indicated that rabbinical law does matter for women's bargaining power, and for lawyers' recommendations for mediation. This study reveals the complexities of the social construction of gender and power in divorce negotiations and the role of women professionals in empowering divorcing women.     

When every relationship is above average

Marriage license applicants and law students were surveyed about their knowledge of divorce statutes, knowledge of the demographics of divorce, and expectations for their own marriage. Both groups had largely incorrect perceptions of the legal terms of the marriage contract as embodied in divorce statutes, but they had relatively accurate, if sometimes optimistic, perceptions of both the likelihood and the effects of divorce in the population at large. These same individuals expressed thoroughly idealistic expectations about both the longevity of their own marriages and the consequences should they personally be divorced. Increasing individuals' knowledge of divorce statutes through a course on family law did not diminish this unrealistic optimism. Both groups largely approved of the existing divorce statutes, although there was substantial agreement about a few important respects in which the laws should be changed. These findings suggest that the sense of unfairness and surprise that frequently attend divorce may be a result of systematic cognitive biases rather than of a lack of information about divorce.     

Family breakdown in nineteenth-century Netherlands: divorcing couples in The Hague.

This is an analysis of divorce trends in the Netherlands in the second half of the nineteenth century. "Use was made of a case-control research design in which the social characteristics of all marriages which ended in divorce were compared with those of a random sample from the marriages which ended in widowhood. The author analyzed a group of 2,300 marriages contracted in The Hague from their inception until their dissolution by death or divorce. All migrants were followed to their new place of residence. Multivariate (proportional hazards) analysis showed that the highest probability of divorce was found among persons who had already gone through a divorce before. Other factors related to divorce were high mobility, low ages at marriage, and large age and religious differences between spouses. Higher social classes had relatively high divorce risks."     

设立我国分居制度的社会基础及其制度构想（上）

根据我国《婚姻法》＂保障离婚自由,防止轻率离婚＂的立法指导思想,设立符合我国国情的分居制度,可以为婚姻当事人提供一个离婚的缓冲期间,为双方提供一个冷静思考的机会,使其慎重地处理面临的婚姻家庭纠纷,从而理性地决定是否离婚。这既有利于保护婚姻当事人及其子女的利益,也有利于维护社会的和谐与稳定。     

论中国民法典婚姻家庭编的立法理念与制度新规

《民法典》婚姻家庭编的编纂,根据加强国家对婚姻家庭的保护、倡导重视家庭文明建设、尊重婚姻家庭当事人的意思自治、注重夫妻婚姻家庭地位的平等、注重儿童最大利益原则的贯彻、注意保护婚姻家庭弱者的权益等立法理念,新增或修改补充了24项制度或规则,主要包括:在"一般规定"章中,新增婚姻家庭受国家保护原则,增设婚姻家庭文明建设的倡导性规定,确立最有利于被收养人原则,界定亲属的种类、近亲属和家庭成员的范围;在"结婚"章中,减少禁止结婚和无效婚姻的法定事由,修改补充可撤销婚姻制度,新增重大疾病的如实告知义务、婚姻无效或被撤销无过错方的损害赔偿请求权;在"家庭关系"章中,新增夫妻家事代理权及其限制规则、夫妻共同债务认定规则、婚内析产规则、亲子关系的确认与否认之诉规则;在"离婚"章中,新增离婚冷静期、婚姻关系解除的时间,补充诉讼离婚准予离婚的法定事由、离婚时处理子女抚养问题规则、离婚夫妻共同财产分割原则,修改离婚经济补偿、离婚经济帮助的适用条件,增加离婚损害赔偿法定事由的兜底条款;在"收养"章中,放宽被收养人的年龄和收养子女的人数限制,修改收养人的条件,增加收养评估规则等。     

民法典离婚损害赔偿制度法律适用的疑难问题

离婚损害赔偿在性质上属离异损害赔偿,与夫妻间侵权责任彼此独立但存在一定的交叉。《民法典》第1091条新增"其他重大过错"的范围应以是否严重违反家庭义务或家庭伦理,以至于威胁到共同生活的可能性作为判断标准。重大过错行为与离婚之间因果关系的认定应采推定原则。离婚赔偿范围仅指因离婚造成的精神损害,而不包括财产损害;离婚精神损害赔偿金数额的确定应将与婚姻家庭有关的特殊因素纳入考量范畴。为避免双重赔偿与过度惩罚,在司法实践中,应注意离婚损害赔偿制度与离婚财产分割之照顾无过错方原则以及夫妻间侵权责任制度的协调适用。     

Divorce and separations in eighteenth-century France: An outline for a social history of law

Marriage breakdown is now common in western society, but it is hardly a new phenomenon. The article investigates the mechanisms and juridical representations of divorce and separation in eighteenth-century France, and argues that if in that century divorce was connected to the secularization of the state, during the 1789 Revolution it gained a new autonomy because of the efforts to add a new article at the universal declaration of human rights. The images of divorce still current today suggest an eighteenth-century past when marriage dissolution was conceived of as a phenomenon involving a more inclusive context of relations and not just as an isolated element of the social reality. Then, discussion of marriage as well as of divorce belonged to a larger domain of family relations and social attitudes, as is evident in the civic representations of these phenomena.     

Family breakdown in nineteenth- century Netherlands: Divorcing couples in The Hague

As in other European countries, divorce became a social issue in the Netherlands from the beginning of the 1880s on. At the same time, divorce rates rose considerably. To examine whether the public debates were reflected in the behavior of Dutch couples, an empirical study was conducted of divorce in the second half of the nineteenth century. Use was made of a case-control research design in which the social characteristics of all marriages which ended in divorce were compared with those of a random sample from the marriages which ended in widowhood. The author analyzed a group of 2,300 marriages contracted in The Hague from their inception until their dissolution by death of divorce. All migrants were followed to their new place of residence. Multivariate (proportional hazards) analysis showed that the highest probability of divorce was found among persons who had already gone through a divorce before. Other factors related to divorce were high mobility, low ages at marriage, and large age and religious differences between spouses. Higher social classes had relatively high divorce risks.