Discussion of the week Family Law is one of the busiest areas of the law. This field has a lot of jobs for paralegals and other kinds of legal professionals. This week, we are going to discuss some Original Papers

Discussion of the week

Family Law is one of the busiest areas of the law.  This field has a lot of jobs for paralegals and other kinds of legal professionals.  This week, we are going to discuss some general family law principles, while keeping in mind how paralegals work in this area.

First, please read this case: Troxel v. Granville, 530 US 57 (2000).

Now answer the following questions: What did you think of the case?  Do you agree with the results? What rights SHOULD grandparents have?  

How might your own personal or cultural background affect the way that you feel about this case?  What new legal terms did you learn as you read this case? Did they make sense to you within the case’s context?  How many perspectives were represented within the case; what are they (including the best needs of the child and/or society itself)?  

Second, here’s a real-life kind of scenario:

Sally comes into your office and you do the potential client interview with your supervisory attorney.  Sally’s husband Mike died unexpectedly a month ago and they have three children under 8 years of age.  Mike’s parents, Bill and Linda, live about an hour away and saw the kids maybe once a month before Mike died.  Three years ago, Sally asked Linda not to feed the kids cookies right before dinner and in response, Linda and Bill threatened to “sue” Sally and Mike for custody of the kids.  Since Mike died, Bill and Linda have been randomly showing up at the house every week or so, wanting to see the kids.  Sally is terrified that they will actually try to take her kids; even if they are not successful, it will cost Sally a lot of money and even more heartache.  

You are in your own state.  The lawyer for whom you work has asked you to draft a quick note (in your initial post here) about: (a) what the relevant state law is and how you think things would go if Bill and Linda filed for full custody, and (b) how things might go if they filed to request more visitation.  What would you advise Sally?

Reference 

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1999/99-138