law & legal

A will is a powerful final testament tool which provides instruction regarding a person’s last wishes, including how they want their estate divided and distributed.

 How has the legal system dealt with the problem of women’s substance abuse during pregnancy?  There is no state which criminalizes drug use during pregnancy.

Many pregnant women are curious about the specific laws that protect
pregnant women in the workplace. An amendment to the Civil Rights Act of
1964 called the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was approved on October
31, 1978.

There is a voluminous amount of ‘popular’ literature about issues involving stepfamilies on the internet, and in newspapers throughout the United States, with much advice.

A stepparent has been defined as a person married to the legal (natural or adoptive) parent of a child.  There are stepparents who legally adopt their stepchildren, and they are treated as biological parents under the law.  A more expansive definition of a stepparent includes live-in girlfriends and boy friends.

There is a voluminous amount of ‘popular’ literature about issues involving separating and divorcing parents throughout the United States, with much advice. Some examples are included below.

With advancements in reproductive technology, infertile couples are
increasingly turning to artificially assisted conception procedures.
When successful, these procedures can make dreams come true for the
couples, but thorny legal issues arise if the couples divorce.

Many states have enacted what have commonly become known as Safe Haven statutes or Baby Moses legislation.  Safe Haven laws have been touted as a positive solution through which a desperate parent can abandon an infant without fear of prosecution. 

According to some of the literature, approximately eighty percent of children reside with their mothers after divorce, and the majority of fathers have little or no contact with the children. 

Custody and access arrangements following separation and divorce have been the subject of much child development and divorce research.  Beneficial parenting plan options now consider children’s developmental and psychological needs, and provide alternatives for parents, courts and professionals to consider as they decide upon the shape of children’s future relationship with each of their parents.

When married heterosexuals who have children divorce, the parents are automatically presumed to be the legal parents of their children and absent a termination due to unfitness, they retain their rights upon divorce. 

Commentators have stated that France and Sweden, for example, provide a more generous maternity and parental leave than is available here in the United States.

Gay male and lesbian couples typically raise children in three contexts.  The first is where one of the partners is already the biological parent of a child. 

The two main federal statutes covering a pregnancy at work are the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. (States may have their own laws, adding an additional layer, which will not be addressed here).

Before April 15, 2010 – gay and lesbian couples were given no legal rights in a hospital setting.