From divorce court to popular culture, alimony is a dirty word. Unpopular and rarely ordered, the awards are frequently inconsistent and unpredictable. The institution itself is often viewed as an historical relic that harkens back to a gendered past in which women lacked the economic independence to free themselves from economic support by their spouses. In short, critics of alimony claim it has no place in contemporary visions of marriage as a partnership of equals. But as Cynthia Lee Starnes argues in The Marriage Buyout, alimony is often the only practical tool for ensuring that divorce does not treat today’s primary caregivers as if they were suckers. Her solution is to radically reconceptualize alimony as a marriage buyout. Starnes’s buyouts draw on a partnership model of marriage that reinforces communal norms of marriage, providing a gender-neutral alternative to alimony that assumes equality in spousal contribution, responsibility, and right. Her quantification formulae support new default rules that make buyouts more certain and predictable than their current alimony counterparts. Looking beyond alimony, Starnes outlines a new vision of marriages with children, describing a co-parenting partnership between committed couples, and the conceptual basis for income sharing between divorced parents of minor children. Ultimately, under a partnership model, the focus of alimony is on gain rather than loss and equality rather than power: a spouse with disparately low earnings isn’t a sucker or a victim dependent on a fixed alimony payment, but rather an equal stakeholder in marriage who is entitled at divorce to share any gains the marriage produced.
From acclaimed author Alexander C. Irvine comes a gritty near-future thriller in the paranoid, prophetic vein of Philip K. Dick and Richard K. Morgan. One hundred years from now, with Americans hooked into an Internet far more expansive and intrusive than today’s, the world has become a seamless market-driven experience. In this culture of capitalism run amok, entrepreneurs and politicians faced with rampant overcrowding in the nation’s penal system turn to a controversial new method of cutting costs: life-term buyouts. In theory, buyouts offer convicted murderers the chance to atone for their crimes by voluntarily allowing themselves to be put to death by the state in exchange for a one-time cash payment, shared among their heirs and victims, based on a percentage of what it would have cost taxpayers to house and feed them for the rest of their natural lives. It’s a win-win situation. At least that’s what Martin Kindred believes. And Martin is a man who desperately needs something to believe in, especially with his marriage coming apart and the murder of his brother, an L.A. cop brutally gunned down in the line of duty, unsolved. As the public face of the buyout program, Martin is a lightning rod for verbal and physical abuse–but he embraces every challenge, knowing his motives are pure. But when evidence comes to light that a felon in line for a buyout may have been involved with his brother’s death, Martin’s professional detachment threatens to turn into a personal vendetta that will jeopardize everything–and everyone–he holds dear. Inspired by today’s politics, Buyout is an unforgettable look at an all-too-believable future . . . and one man’s struggle to do the right thing.
Contemporary marriage involves complex notions of both connection and freedom. On the one hand, spouses are members of a shared community, while on the other they are discrete individuals with their own distinct interests. Alone Together explores the ways in which law seeks to accommodate tensions between commitment and freedom in marriage. Author Milton Regan suggests that only close attention to context can guide us in deciding what weight to assign to each dimension of spousal identity in a given setting. This interdisciplinary work has relevance to family law, family studies, feminist legal theory, and the debate between liberal and communitarian social theorists.
Divorce in the United States is becoming more prevalent than ever. More than 2.3 million Americans divorce each year, and halt of all marriages and 60% of all remarriages end in divorce. And the costs of ending a marriage--(both financial and emotional--(are staggering; the most conservative estimated cost of divorce is $15,000 and average legal fees range from $20,000 to $30,000. And with most lawyers fees reaching $300 or more an hour, there is a widespread need for accessible, inexpensive, and trustworthy information on all aspects of divorce. "The Complete Guide to Divorce Law provides readers who have no legal background with a detailed explanation of divorce law in each of the 50 states, which will help to minimize these legal fees and some of the emotional trauma that accompanies a divorce. For a fraction of the cost of an hour with their divorce lawyer, legal expert Nikara Choudri provides an easy to understand explanation of legal rules governing alimony, child support, child custody, and visitation. Now everyone going through a divorce will learn the requirements for filing for divorce, how divorce courts divide property, the qualifications for alimony, and how much child support will be required in a specific case. From the basic subjects, like determining the grounds for divorce, to complex topics like pensions, stock options, and professional licenses and degrees, Choudri offers sound, step-by-step advice that will help those contemplating the dissolution of a marriage to negotiate a settlement directly with a spouse as well as helping them to determine whether they can reach an out of-court settlement. With chapters on such topics ranging from transmutation to drafting anout-of-court agreement, this is an invaluable guide that will help everyone make informed rational decisions while coping with the difficult issues that can arise in a heated divorce.
A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average woman's family income drops by 37% after divorce. Do you know what assets or how much alimony or child support you are entitled to receive? Has your spouse threatened to leave you penniless? Have you spoken to an attorney and gotten sticker-shock? Do you earn too much money to qualify for free legal aid? This book was written to help the low- and moderate-income women the legal system has abandoned by walking a hypothetical self-represented woman step-by-step through the divorce process, including: -- How to prepare financially to stand on your own two feet; -- What the court can, and cannot do for you; -- 'Legwork' that can save you money on legal fees and help you get a better outcome; -- How much child support and alimony you might be entitled to receive; -- Custody disputes … 'fatal flaws' and how you can fix them. -- How to show a judge that your spouse is lying about their assets and income; -- What property you are entitled to receive … and should ask for; -- Ways vindictive ex-spouses can hide money … and how to prove they are lying; -- Real life dirty tricks, traps, and pitfalls highlighted so you can avoid them; -- How to find a good attorney (if you can afford one), save money on legal fees, or combine “a la carte” legal advice with your own efforts if you can't afford to hire a full-service attorney; -- Mediation and court-connected Alternative Dispute Resolution … benefits and pitfalls; -- How to dig up information your spouse doesn't want you to know (discovery) like an attorney; -- Common court forms and how to fill them out; -- Separation Agreements dissected and clarified; including two blank fill-in-the form boilerplates which you can download and use in your own divorce; -- Sample discovery requests and motions – we’ll dissect each motion and show what information you can use it to get; -- Sample hearing scripts for common court hearings (including Restraining Order hearings, Temporary Order hearings, Custody Dispute hearings, Contempt hearings, and parts of a mock-Trial); -- Restraining orders … how to get one … how to keep one; Filled with helpful examples of common court forms and legal pleadings, this book will introduce you to everything you NEVER wanted to know about divorce … but need to come up to speed … FAST!!! This is the only self-help legal book written by a woman who was once in your shoes who later went back to school to become an attorney! BONUS: links to download, edit and print blank Separation Agreement forms. The 6th Edition has been completely updated with the latest case law, including ways to sensitively handle a Christian divorce, caveats regarding same-sex couple custody disputes post-Obergefell, and a completely rewritten Separation Agreement chapter with suggested clauses for unusual situations such as extraordinary school fees, private school or homeschooling. Book 1 of the "Divorce Bootcamp Self-Help Legal series" . KIRKUS: “A solid, informative self-help divorce guide. This exhaustive…guide covers a range of topics related to contested and uncontested divorces, including how to gather documentation of assets, estimate child support and alimony, and even, if necessary, obtain restraining orders. She discusses many topics related to asset division and child custody, including marital debt and visitation rights. The book is aimed at the broadest possible audience, but also discusses variations in state laws.” (Review of the 5th Edition). . Legal Disclaimer: This book is not meant to constitute legal advice. The author is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts. Links have been provided to direct women to their local court resources in all 50 states, but the court forms, case histories and property division examples used are loosely based upon Massachusetts examples. This book is NOT a replacement for consultation with a licensed local attorney.
Excerpt from Community Property Laws: With Translations of the Commentaries Thereon of Matienzo, Azevedo and Guttierez All debts contracted by husband and wife, being com mon, moreover let them pay as one and if before union in marriage either of them contracted a debt, let that one pay it and the other shall not be held to pay it from his estate. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Legal information and practical advice for older Americans going through a divorce. The legal, financial, and emotional challenges they face are different from those that apply to younger divorcees. Divorce After 50 is the only book around that addresses legal and financial concerns for this age group. Learn about different ways to divorce (mediation, collaborative law, or litigation), how to divide property, how to plan for post-divorce finances, what to do with retirement funds, and how health care and estate plans are affected by divorce
The Research Handbook on Feminist Jurisprudence surveys feminist theoretical understandings of law, including liberal and radical feminism, as well as socialist, relational, intersectional, post-modern, and pro-sex and queer feminist legal theories.
