Committed Relationships And The Law

The questioning of traditional family forms is not a new phenomenon. However, it has recently developed a new dimension in the gay rights movement's claim for legal recognition of committed relationships other than traditional marriage. This collection of essays explores the moral, practical and legal issues that arise from proposals to recognise such committed relationships. The history of the Irish gay rights movement and its contribution to the current issue of partnership recognition are traced. The roles played by marriage in the procreation and raising of children and as the supreme expression of inter-personal commitment are also explored from different perspectives in separate essays. Egalitarian arguments in favour of partnership recognition are advanced by Oran Doyle and Robert Wintemute, while William Binchy makes the case, on the basis of personal autonomy, for life-long marriage. John Mee explores in detail the current proposals for reform. Eoin Carolan and Eimear Brown assess the likely impact of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights respectively. Ursula Kilkelly examines the issues that arise where children are born into - or become part of - the committed relationships of their parents. This timely collection of essays will stimulate those interested in this issue and provide practical guidance on the legal scope for - and limits on - possible change.

A tension lies at the heart of family law. Expressed in the language of rights and duties, it seeks to impose enforceable obligations on individuals linked to each other by ties that are usually regarded as based on love or blood. Taking a contextual approach that draws on history, sociology and social policy as well as law and legal theory, this book examines the concept of obligation as it has been developed in family law and the difficulties the law has had in translating it from a theoretical and ideological concept into the basis of enforceable actions and duties. Increasingly, the idea of commitment has been offered as the key organising principle for the recognition of family relationships, often as a means of rebutting claims that family ties are becoming attenuated, but the meaning and scope of this concept have not been explored. The book traces how the notion of commitment is understood and how far it has come to be used as a rationale for imposing the core legal obligations which underpin care and caring within families.

The Relationship Laws that Drive Success There are powerful but invisible laws that determine whether your relationships —with your clients, colleagues, and friends—will thrive or wither. These relationship laws are ever-present. When you align with them, the results are dramatic. Your network will grow rapidly. You’ll be seen by clients as a trusted partner rather than an expense to be managed. And you’ll find the people around you eager to help you succeed. When you ignore the laws, however, your efforts will falter. Relationship building will seem like very hard work. Power Relationships gives readers a unique, entertaining guide to relationship success at work and in life. Each of the 26 laws is illustrated and explained using a compelling, real-life story that shows how to implement it. The second section of the book presents 16 common relationship challenges with specific solutions. You’ll read about: The top Citigroup executive whose relationship with a CEO was changed forever on a business trip that exploded into chaos, and how you can use the same principle to deepen your own relationships. The philanthropist who, on the verge of being mugged in a dark parking lot, learns how his actions have had an unimaginable ripple effect across several generations How one of the authors flew halfway around the world and used Law 18—“Make them curious”—to turn a make-or-break, five-minute meeting with a top executive into a long-term relationship. The chance encounter on an airplane with a famous actor that revealed a simple but profound truth. It’s Law 25: “Build your network before you need it.” Sobel (author of Clients for Life, All for One, and Power Questions (with Panas)) and Panas (author of Asking and Supremely Successful Selling) have sold over half a million books and are the leading authorities in their field. Power Relationships is a unique, road-tested guide to relationship success.

You're committed, you're moving in together and you're blending your households. But are you forgetting something? Many Canadians find themselves in common-law relationships and think that they aren't any different from a legal marriage. It can be a shock to find out that, when the going gets tough, certain rights under the law-not to mention financial obligations-do or do not apply. For instance, if one common-law partner becomes seriously ill or passes away, will the other be able to access joint bank accounts? Their shared home? What happens if there is no will? And what about the kids? These are some of the many serious questions that couples need to consider before sharing their lives, all of which can be addressed in a cohabitation agreement. A cohabitation agreement allows a couple to make sure their partner and any children are taken care of in times of need or crisis; that ownership in properties or financial resources are clear, combined, separated or protected. Most of all, these contracts allow for the peace of mind that comes with having a game plan in place should the relationship end due to death or separation. Take the advice of Michael Cochrane, a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience, and consider the numerous issues that can affect a common-law relationship. Do We Need a Cohabitation Agreement? is written in clear, nontechnical language and includes real-life examples based on Canadian cases. Cochrane addresses critical issues such as wills and estates, powers of attorney, the special concerns of step-families and same-sex couples, and how to have this discussion with your partner. It will also help you work in a cost-effective way with a lawyer should you decide that an agreement will benefit your relationship. This is your future together. Get it right from the very beginning.

For much of the 20th century, American gays and lesbians lived in fear that public exposure of their sexualities might cause them to be fired, blackmailed, or even arrested. Today, they are enjoying an unprecedented number of legal rights and protections. Clearly, the tides have shifted for gays and lesbians, but what caused this enormous sea change? In his gripping new book, Walter Frank offers an in-depth look at the court cases that were pivotal in establishing gay rights. But he also tells the story of those individuals who were willing to make waves by fighting for those rights, taking enormous personal risks at a time when the tide of public opinion was against them. Frank’s accessible style brings complex legal issues down to earth but, as a former litigator, never loses sight of the law’s human dimension and the context of the events occurring outside the courtroom. Chronicling the past half-century of gay and lesbian history, Law and the Gay Rights Story offers a unique perspective on familiar events like the Stonewall Riots, the AIDS crisis, and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Frank pays special attention to the constitutional issues surrounding same-sex marriage and closely analyzes the two recent Supreme Court cases addressing the issue. While a strong advocate for gay rights, Frank also examines critiques of the movement, including some coming from the gay community itself. Comprehensive in coverage, the book explains the legal and constitutional issues involved in each of the major goals of the gay rights movement: a safe and healthy school environment, workplace equality, an end to anti-gay violence, relationship recognition, and full integration into all the institutions of the larger society, including marriage and military service. Drawing from extensive archival research and from decades of experience as a practicing litigator, Frank not only provides a vivid history, but also shows where the battle for gay rights might go from here.

Argues for legal reforms to protect couples who live apart but perform many of the functions of a family Living Apart Together is an in-depth look at a new way of being a couple and “doing family”—living apart together (LAT)—in which committed couples maintain separate residences and finances. In Bowman’s own 2016 national survey, 9% of respondents reported maintaining committed relationships while living apart, typically spending the weekend together, socializing together, taking vacations together, and looking after one another in illness, but maintaining financial independence. The term LAT stems from Europe, where this manner of coupledom has been extensively studied; however, it has gone virtually unnoticed in the United States. Living Apart Together aims to remedy this oversight by presenting original research derived from both randomized surveys and qualitative interviews. Beginning with the large body of social science literature from outside the US, Cynthia Bowman examines the prevalence of this lifestyle, the demographics of people who live apart, their reasons for doing so, and how these individuals manage finances, care during illness, and many other aspects of family life. She focuses in particular detail on three key demographics—women, gay men, and the elderly—and how individuals from these groups engage in LAT behavior. She finds that while these living arrangements are more common than previously believed, there are virtually no legal protections for the people involved. Bowman concludes by proposing a number of legal reforms to support the caregiving functions LAT partners perform for each other. Living Apart Together makes an important case for formal recognition of this growing but largely overlooked family structure.

In recent years, family law has catapulted from the shadows to the spotlight in public consciousness. The issues that family law addresses--divorce, custody, single parenthood, same-sex marriage, prenuptial contracts, unmarried cohabitation, alternative families--have attracted enormous public attention and have become the subject of celebrated legal disputes, newspaper and magazine articles, television shows and movies, and Presidential campaigns. The modern family serves as a highly-charged symbol of the conflicts that arise within an American culture that professes devotion both to individual rights and family obligations. Family law has shown increasing willingness in the last two decades to resolve these conflicts in favor of individual rights. It has placed heightened emphasis on the autonomy of individual family members, exhibiting greater suspicion of the family as a constraint on self-development. This has translated into a waning influence for the moral vision of family life that assigns rights and obligations to those with formal legal identities such as spouses, parents, or children--a vision expressed in the legal model of status. In its stead has entered the alternative vision of contract, which enables individuals themselves to establish the terms of their relationships, with regulation limited to cases of imminent harm. This vision strives to free individuals from the fetters of communal expectations so that they can pursue genuine intimacy with others. In this timely work, Regan delves into recent legal cases, social theory, and family history to challenge the assumption that contract should serve as the governing principle of family law. The devaluation of status, he claims, puts us at risk of losing the resonance of the family as a cultural model of the responsibilities that flow from relationships with others. In a postmodern world marked by fragmentation of both identity and personal relationships, intimate commitment may rest more than ever on the ability of culture to orient the individual within shared norms of conduct. The challenge therefore is to construct a new model of status--shorn of sexist assumptions, yet based on commitment and responsibility--that will preserve the distinctive character of family law as a narrative about self and other in intimate relationship.

Marriage is a major step in a relationship, and each member of that newly joined pair brings with them their own existing family and the corresponding complexity and richness of in-law relationships. These are multi-generational, multi-layered, and, like a kaleidoscope, a shifting amalgam of emotional colors. Exceptionally important, in-law relationships can be joyous and comforting. They can also be complicated, contentious, and disappointing. These ties serve as a model for how to stay connected across generations for the well-being of grandparents, parents, and grandchildren, and as a bellwether for what to avoid. Drawing on interviews and survey data with more than 1,500 mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, daughters-in-law, and sons-in-law, the book describes how these complicated and highly significant relationships develop over time. Geoffrey L. Greif and Michael E. Woolley focus on the relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law as well as fathers-in-law with sons-in-law. They describe the struggles as well as the triumphs that people encounter with these relationships from the perspectives of both generations and suggest ways to improve the relationships. To improve in-law relationships, Greif and Woolley present action-oriented family therapy theories based on the insight, communication, boundary building, and narratives that family members wish to create. They also explore how these relationships change with the normal transitions of marrying into the family, having children/grandchildren, and aging. In-law Relationships describes highly successful and nurturing connections as well as those that are troubled and distant. The resulting book offers a variety of clinical lenses to help readers of all backgrounds focus on and, if needed, repair in-law relationships.