Offering intentional parenthood as the most appropriate, flexible and just normative doctrine for resolving the various dilemmas that have surfaced in the modern era.

In the United States today, we have two legal bases for parentage, biology and function. Biological parenthood is usually controlling when the issue is liability for child support, and functioning as a parent is considered, if at all, only when the primary issue is custody or access to a child. These two strands of parentage law derive from what Jacobus tenBroek called the dual system of family law. While the divided law that ten Broek describes is centuries old, until fairly recently, the two strands ran in parallel and did not have much impact on each other. However, in the last several decades they have evolved and, as a result, are today on a collision course when the identity of a child's legal parents must be determined. Child support law has come to be predominantly welfare-driven; in tenBroek's terminology, it has taken on characteristics of "public law," regardless of whether it applies to the poor or to the upper classes.The law that governs private disputes over custody, visitation and the like continues to have the characteristics of "private law." The difference in these approaches is especially apparent in the law of parentage. If child support is the ultimate question, parentage will likely be determined according to biology, the principle favored by the "public law approach." If custody or access is the main issue, private law principles, which tend to respect functional parenthood, are more likely to be invoked. And yet, once legal parentage is determined, it applies to determine the rights and duties of the involved adults vis-a-vis the child, regardless of context. The article argues that as biology-based parentage becomes more pervasive, it threatens to displace rules based on functional parent-child relationships, which would be harmful to many children and their families. To avoid this result, I argue that we need a substantive law of parentage that recognizes the importance of biology while preserving a realm in which functional relationships are protected. To make this law politically viable, we also should reject some child support rules and practices that treat men unfairly and, in so doing, suggest that biology is the only thing that matters for determining legal parentage.

Millions of fathers are currently fighting for custody of their children. Many wonder if they will ever again be an important part of their children's lives. Fathers' Rights covers every aspect of the custody process, including protecting the parent/child relationship as a break-up occurs, determining when to settle and when to litigate and explanations concerning the court's determination of a fair level of child support. This new edition updates the ever-changing laws in this area and expands into additional topics of importance concerning paternity issues and fathers serving in the armed forces. Numerous court cases are used as examples to illustrate relevant situations. An extensive list of resources including agencies, organizations and websites is included as easy reference for the reader.

Family Law emphasizes the issues and skills most relevant to domestic relations practice. The text employs a novel and dramatic organization with three substantive units that compare the legal treatment of the parent-child relationship vs. adult intimate relationships at stages of formation, regulation, and dissolution. In keeping with the modern reorientation of the field, Family Law reflects the transition "From Partners to Parents" beginning with the creation of parent-child relationship rather than marriage. Its geographical breadth delivers more comparative materials than other texts, using examples from a variety of cultures to provoke "why don't we do this?" considerations. Each student-friendly chapter and section begins with a clear summary of current law that orients the reader before examining legal texts in detail. This structure invites theoretical critique only after a solid foundation is laid. Statutes are core to the text which gives proper emphasis to the vital skill of statutory interpretation in todays practice. Up-to-date material provides more recent cases than any other textbook. With an empirical emphasis, Family Law draws from the significant literature in sociology, psychology, anthropology and other fields so that legal analysis is grounded in real-life application. Focused questions direct students to the heart of the analysis, often using headings before questions to alert readers to the type of analysis required, for example: statutory interpretation, policy, client counseling, and moral theory. Features: Novel organization three substantive units compares legal treatment of parent-child relationship vs. adult intimate relationships considers stages of formation, regulation, and dissolution Reflects modern reorientation of the field in keeping with transition "From Partners to Parents" starts with creation of parent-child relationship rather than marriage Geographical breadth much more comparative material than current texts examples from other cultures lead to "why don't we do this?" considerations Student-friendly organization each chapter and section begins with clear summary of current law orients students before examining legal texts invites theoretical critique after foundation is laid Statutes at the core proper emphasis on the vital skill of statutory interpretation Up-to-date more recent cases than any other textbook Empirical emphasis draws from sociology, psychology, anthropology, and other fields grounds legal analysis in real world application Focused questions direct students to the heart of the analysis use headings to alert students as to the type of analysis required (e.g., statutory interpretation, policy, client counseling, moral theory)

Family Law in a Changing America is a new casebook that highlights law and family patterns as they are now, not as they were decades ago. By focusing on key changes in family life, the casebook attends to rising equality and inequality within and among families. The law, formally at least, accords more equality and autonomy than ever before, having repudiated hierarchies based on race, gender, and sexuality. Yet, as our society has grown more economically unequal, so too have family patterns diverged—with marriage and marital child-rearing becoming a mark of privilege. A number of developments—mass incarceration, the privatization of care, and reproductive technologies—have also contributed to disparities based on race, class, and gender. The casebook reflects the law’s continuing emphasis on marriage, but also treats nonmarital families as central. Rather than privilege the marital heterosexual family, the casebook organizes the presentation of the law around 1) adult relationships and 2) parent-child relationships. Professors and students will benefit from: Text that includes dramatic changes in family patterns in contemporary society, including: declining marriage rates, with differential rates based on race and class; increasing rates of nonmarital cohabitation and nonmarital parenting; the use of assisted reproduction and its challenge to biological understandings of parentage; tensions between women’s increasing education and employment and the perseverance of the gendered division of labor in families; the inclusion of same-sex couples in marriage and parenthood An approach that decenters the marital heterosexual family and instead is structured around the general topics of adult relationships and parent-child relationships Focus on the scope of family law, including extensive coverage of crucial sites of family regulation, such as the child welfare system, that are traditionally neglected Emphasis on multiple modes of legal interpretation (common law, constitutional, statutory) and multiple actors in the legal system (judges, legislators, lawyers, experts, social workers) Practical problems and exercises, often based on actual cases or events, that illuminate the gaps, tensions, and implications of existing doctrine; some of the problems include postscripts explaining how the issue was resolved by a court or legislature An approach that draws on more recent cases and cutting-edge issues and that includes extensive coverage of assisted reproduction (including IVF, surrogacy, and gamete donation), parentage (including intentional parenthood, functional parenthood, and multi-parent arrangements), adoption, child welfare, and family support