Family relationships

 Marriage decline is a topic of discussion since the downward trend of marriage is alarming.  Recent research on marriage decline report that socioeconomic factors such as education, contraception, higher earning, and economic security have contributed to the marriage decline (Dnes & Rowthorn, 2002). Currently, an example of a law that addresses this issue is the unilateral divorce law. The law allows one spouse to file a divorce without the consent of the other. The Unilateral divorce law has increased the divorce rate since couples have the right to take the marital property since each has a disproportionate investment. Couples have the freedom to make personal goals and fail to make a successful marriage and as a result, leads to marital breakdown (Dnes & Rowthorn, 2002). The law has also destabilized marriage and denies the couples the ability to make relationship goals and arrive at a mutual agreement. Thus, there should be a law reform and create another effective legislation that can slow the marriage decline and build marital; stability. Given that socioeconomic factors have caused marriage decline, there should be a change in marriage laws and the kind of legislation that can work better should define marriage as a special relationship, and a commitment devise. Rather than relying on the current laws that provide the freedom to separate, the new legislation should state the social and legal meaning of the marriage, implement enforceable restrictions and binding obligations and this will promote cooperation and allow the couples to build an intimate relationship and reduce misunderstanding (Dnes & Rowthorn, 2002).

When couples separate, one of the couples is given a legal obligation to give financial support to the other.  The advantages of alimony are that both couples are under the law and have the legal security as one is legally entitled to make the payment and the other is legally entitled to receive the payment (Woodhouse & Guillen, 2016). Second, the beneficiary gets financial support which aids in paying bills and meeting basic needs, and the payer avoids future obligations. However, alimony is associated with disadvantages in that the payer may lack finance and prefer to borrow a loan.  The receiving spouse will be affected since he or she will be forced to pay tax thereby reducing the financial amount.  There should be a term limit for the receipt of alimony with respect to the couples unique situation, needs, and ability.  The reason as to why term limit should be applied are; if the recipient remarries, if the payer has unlimited ability to pay, if both spouses earn, the amount of the monthly earnings among other reasons. In general, there should be a term limit to maximize fairness and justice.

  Spousal Relationships

Methods to end a marriage are; separation, divorce, and annulment. Divorce means that either spouse can file a divorce request without the consent of the other. Separation means that the spouses can separate legally but neither should not remarry without filing a divorce request.  Spouses can separate and divide assets and properties.  The third method is annulment which means that couples end the marriage because it was not legally valid (Statsky, 2004).  This method occurs in cases where the couples are blood relatives, if one of the spouses is under the age, and if one of the spouses was mentally incapacitated when engaging marriage.

 

 These methods have potential repercussions to the society in that the children to the divorced couples will encounter mental,  psychological and economic challenge and as a result, they will develop immoral behaviors such as alcohol abuse and physical fighting and as a result,  they will damage the social harmony and the social stability.  Employers will also encounter a difficult situation since they will spend more time to address employees' divorce issues.  As a result, employers will suffer from poor performance and loss of productivity (Statsky, 2004).  Financial institutions will also suffer from financial instability since the separated couples may fail to pay loans due to low household income, low net worth and high poverty

.            I would support the restoration of the father's visitation privileges by arguing that the unmarried father who has an undeveloped relationship with a child has a genetic link. Second, when the child was born, the father was willing to build a relationship with the kid but due to mother's hatred, he was unable. Thus, the father should be given the right to visit the child and build a substantial relationship. I would also employ the labor-based theory to argue that being a biological father, he shows the intention of being active and an engaged parent (Purvis, 2013).  In general, the biological father should be allowed to assist the child in areas such as insurance plans, saving accounts, education, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Dnes, A. W., & Rowthorn, B. (2002). The law and economics of marriage and divorce. New

York: Cambridge University Press.

 

Woodhouse, V., & Guillen, L. (2016). Divorce & Money: How to Make the Best Financial

Decisions During Divorce / Attorney Violet Woodhouse and Attorney Lina Guillen.

NOLO.

 

Statsky, W. P. (2004). Family law: The essentials. Clifton Park, NY: Thomas/Delmar Learning.

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Purvis, D. E. (2013). The Origin of Parental Rights: Labor, Intent, and Fathers. Fla. St. UL

Rev., 41, 645.