The Five Core Obligations of the Parent-Partner Status
"The democratic process will be the final arbiter of the obligations that would attach to the parent-partner status." -Merle Weiner
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It is highly recommended that you read the "parent-partners generally" page first if you haven't already:
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Q: What legal obligations should automatically exist between parents who have a child in common? A: This is an important question. After all, the obligations would not depend upon the parents' martial status, the obligations would survive the demise of the parents' romantic relationship, and the obligations would not require the parents' explicit consent to be bound. They would be "core" obligations and would be unalterable by the parties themselves. Therefore, the obligations must be chosen carefully. Moreover, the obligations need to convey the appropriate message: that parent-partners are to have a supportive partnership, one in which each parent exhibits fondness, flexibility, acceptance, togetherness, and empathy toward the other parent. Here are the core legal obligations that I propose in A Parent-Partner Status for American Family Law. 1. An Obligation to Give Aid.
The first obligation would require a parent to aid a parent-partner when the parent-partner is physically imperiled and it is reasonable to lend aid. A remedy for the failure to aid would exist in tort law, as it does now for spouses. 2. An Obligation Not to Abuse Physically or Psychologically.
The second obligation would require each parent-part not to abuse the other. Law reform would entail several components. First, statutes should name parent-partners as eligible petitioners for civil protection orders and extend eligibility to expectant couples. Second, psychological abuse (without accompanying physical abuse) should qualify a victim for a civil protection order. Third, the civil protection order should allow the victim to have contact, albeit nonabusive contact, with the other parent if the victim so desires. Finally, a new crime should exist for the physical abuse of a parent-partner. 3. An Obligation of Relationship Work. The obligation of relationship work would arise at the transition to parenthood and at the demise of the romantic relationship. The obligation would encourage parents to attend counseling or an educational program designed to strengthen their relationship. While a court could not order a reluctant party into counseling, a court could require the reluctant parent to attend an educational session on the benefits of relationship work. 4. An Obligation of Fair Dealing When Contracting. The heightened obligation of fair dealing would apply when parent-partners contract with each other to alter the background law that would otherwise govern their family relationship, typically when parents enter or enforce a premarital agreement, post-marital agreement, or cohabitation agreement. A parent-partner who wanted to enforce an agreement at the end of the romantic relationship would have to demonstrate that the parties voluntarily entered into the agreement (there was no duress or fraud, for example), that certain disclosures were made, and that at the time of enforcement the agreement was substantially fair. 5. An Obligation to Give Care or Share. This obligation would require the parents to share equally the responsibility of providing their child with physical care. A parent who incurred an unfairly disproportionate amount of the caregiving work would be entitled to a judicial remedy for compensation. |
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To order A Parent-Partner Status for American Family Law, click here. To order Living Life as Parent-Partners, click here.
