CHICAGO, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- As the traditional American nuclear family becomes the exception rather than the rule, the courts will increasingly have to address the rights of grandparents, stepparents, gay partners and other caregivers who aren't biological parents, according to the nation's top divorce and matrimonial attorneys.

While in general the rights of the biological parents should remain paramount, traditional concepts regarding divorce and family law are going to have to be rethought as the nature of the American family changes, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the nation's top 1,600 divorce and family law attorneys.

The Academy is holding its annual meeting here and is having an all-day meeting Thursday, November 8, on how the American family is changing and its impact on family law.

The National Opinion Research Center in Chicago estimates that only slightly more than half of all children in the U.S. are living with two adults in an uninterrupted marriage, down from 73 percent in 1972.

"The definition of what constitutes a 'family' is truly changing and family law is going to have to change and adapt," according to Charles C. Shainberg of Philadelphia, the Academy's president.

While decisions about custody and visitation are generally governed by what is perceived to be the best interests of the child, those best interests can be interpreted differently in differing cases, particularly when balanced against other rights, such as those of parents.

Complicating the picture further are assisted reproductive technologies (ART). For instance, with the use of artificial insemination and surrogacy, not only can parents now be unrelated biologically to their children, but such technologies also have given rise to a host of other family law issues, such as control and potential use of fertilized embryos after divorce or when one spouse dies.

A survey of attorneys attending the annual meeting found divergent views on the evolution of the family and family law:

• A majority of members attending said that the legal rights of biological parents have decreased in the past 10 to 20 years and that the government and courts today play a more intrusive role in custody and child-rearing decisions.
• At the same time, many members feel the rights of biological fathers have actually increased as the courts take a more gender-neutral attitude toward whom a child's primary care-giver should be.
• Following the Troxel case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a broad State of Washington statute regarding visitation by grandparents, many attorneys believe parental rights have been expanded at the expense of those of grandparents.
• Most attorneys believed that a father whose sperm has been used to fertilize an egg should have the ability to have those fertilized eggs destroyed after divorce.

The legal role of stepparents is an example of the type of difficult issues family law is facing. Currently, stepparents have few legally defined relationships or rights.

For instance, stepparents generally have no obligation to support their stepchildren but also have no rights to custody or even visitation should that particular marriage end in divorce or death, even if the stepparent has played a major role in a child's upbringing.

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers is composed of the nation's top 1,600 attorneys who are experts in the specialized field of matrimonial law, including divorce, prenuptial agreements, legal separation, annulment, custody, property valuations, and support and the rights of unmarried cohabitors.

The purpose of the Academy is to encourage the study, improve the practice, elevate the standards and advance the cause of matrimonial law.

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Salt Lake City, UT 84123 USA
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Fax: USA 801/268-6471

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