Legal reforms appropriate for cohabitants and LATs

Cohabitants and LATs (couples who “live apart together”) do not fit the traditional categories and rules of our family law system. This article describes what we know about both cohabitants and LATs in the U.S., compares the two institutions, and makes recommendations about legal reforms with respect to each. For cohabitants the reforms would assimilate cohabiting couples to marriage after the passage of time, based on the evidence of their economic interdependence and the probability that there are children in their households. As to LATs, the reforms proposed are limited to those that would support the caretaking functions LATs perform for each other, resulting in benefits to society as a whole.     

IRC § 71 MAY IMPOVERISH CHILDREN,ENDANGER EX‐WIVES,AND DISRUPT FEDERALISM1

The Internal Revenue Code provides that alimony will be deductible to the payor and taxable to the payee. Although this treatment may seem contrary to the payee's interest, compared to making the payments non‐deductible and nontaxable, it can increase the payee's after‐tax income. The payor's deduction will allow larger payments at no after‐tax cost increase; if the payee is in a lower tax bracket, then even after paying taxes the payee will have more resources. Because this favorable treatment of alimony does not apply to child support, children of divorce are poorer. Nor does the favorable treatment apply to lump‐sum payments, making this option less generous, even though many states have phased down the grant of alimony. Because the definition of alimony requires that it end with the payee's death—to protect the treatment provided for lump sums—the tax system is on the wrong side of the issue of violence against ex‐spouses (typically the ex‐wife). The article proposes extending to other similar payments the favorable tax treatment now provided for alimony.     

我国台湾地区离婚赡养费制度及其启示

离婚赡养费是指夫妻无过失的一方,因判决离婚而陷于生活困难者,他方纵无过失,亦应给予相当的赡养费,是离婚在夫妻财产关系上的效力之一。我国台湾地区规定的离婚赡养费制度在发挥救济功能的同时,注重维护双方当事人权利义务的平衡,实现社会的公平和正义。该制度对完善我国的离婚经济帮助制度具有重要的借鉴意义。     

关于未成年子女抚养费纠纷案件的调研

离婚后,父母对子女仍有抚养和教育的权利和义务,为子女创造一个良好的生存环境。一方抚养子女的,另一方应负担必要的生活费和教育费的一部分或全部,这是父母的法定义务。根据调研情况看,造成目前抚养费纠纷不断产生的原因是多方面的,最直接的原因就是当事人的职业和收入状况,深层次的原因既有道德责任的缺失和法律方面的缺陷,又有思维观念和认识上的误区,还有很大一部分纠纷是由于夫妻离婚后矛盾积聚并恶化产生的。保障未成年子女的抚养费按时足额地支付,是保障未成年子女生存条件的重要问题,法院应对审理好抚养费纠纷案件采取一些应对措施,以保护未成年人合法权益为宗旨,明确和细化工作内容。