Brian Bix (University of Minnesota Law School) has posted Domestic Agreements (Hofstra Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
The article (given as the 2007 Siben Lecture at Hofstra Law School) explores the courts' treatment of agreements in Family Law: generally supportive of separation agreements; open to premarital agreements, though with reluctance and suspicion; and hostile to co-parenting agreements by same-sex couples. In general, the doctrines show that the State is still protective of the prerogative of determining parental status. However, as the article explores, at least in the State's treatment of co-parenting agreements, nothing of great value is protected, and much of value is wasted, by not enforcing the contractual commitments.
Highly recommended.
