Family Law Practice Problems
General Feedback and Sample Answer
GENERAL FEEDBACK
The following provides some general feedback on the answers to the practice problems. It should be read in conjunction with the specific feedback on your answer which I emailed to you. If you submitted an answer but have not yet received feedback from me, let me know as soon as possible.
* Many people included a general introduction to their answers. This often repeated the facts from the problem and made no contribution to actually answering the question. Remember, you should approach a problem question as if you are offering a client advice – the client would not want to hear a summary of their own situation, they would want to know how the law actually applied to them.
* In the same vein, many people also wrote overall conclusions to their answers. There is no need to write a conclusion summarising how you think the law applies. Your conclusions within the body of the answer themselves are sufficient.
* If a question has a part (a) and part (b) (as problem 2 did) then your answer really should be broken up into parts (a) and (b) too.
* There was considerable confusion regarding the functions of the Law Reform (Parent and Child) (Scotland) Act 1986 and the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Section 5 of the 1986 Act is concerned with parental status ie. who is the legal father of the child. It has nothing to do with parental responsibilities and rights. The 1995 Act tells us who has PR&R and how this can be varied. It has nothing to do with whether someone is the legal mother or father of a child.
The Essay on Susan Smith Law Police Children
Susan Smith In the blink of an eye, North America was informed of Susan Smith's tragic loss of her two young boys. No one would have guessed that such a violent crime could have occurred in a small town. Throughout the ordeal, police began to see the flaws in Susan Smith's story. This lead to suspicions, causing the police to make Susan Smith their prime suspect. Days later, Susan Smith confessed ...
* When discussing parentage, a man only has to be married to the mother of the child at any time between conception and birth. He doesn’t need to be married to her both at conception AND at birth.
* Presumption has a specific legal meaning, which is not the same as saying a man is ‘considered’ or ‘labelled’ a child’s father. Make sure you use the correct terminology when answering the question.
* In problem 1, many people seemed to assume that Jonathan was registered on Susan’s birth certificate. The problem doesn’t actually say this – I deliberately left out that information in order that you could comment that further details were required. You can make assumptions – such as an assumption that he is registered on the birth certificate – in essays but you must first (i) state exactly what information is missing (and why this is important) and (ii) state what you are going to assume when answering the rest of the question.
* In problem 2, not many people considered whether Simon had title to apply for an order under section 11. If you are advising someone to seek an order under section 11, you also need to make sure you consider whether they are actually allowed to apply for it in the first place. Section 11(3) limits the categories of people who may apply to the court to have PR&R regulated, so you should always consider which of the categories in this section (if any) your client falls into.
* Be specific about which orders your client should seek. It’s not enough to talk generally about applying to stop Liza seeing Damien in problem 2. You must state exactly which order could help him achieve this.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Problem 1
As she is the woman who carried and gave birth to Susan, Sarah is legally Susan’s mother. The position with respect to Susan’s father is more complex. A man will acquire parental status and be presumed to be the father of a child either where he is married to the mother of the child at any time between conception and birth, where he is registered on the birth certificate as the father or where the court declares that he is the father. Although Jonathan and Sarah are married, the marriage took place after Susan was born. As such, Jonathan cannot benefit from the first presumption identified above as they were not married between conception and birth. We are not told whether anyone is registered as Susan’s father on her birth certificate. If Jonathan was registered as such, he would be presumed to be Susan’s father according to section 5(1)(b).
The Essay on Natural child birth VS. Medicated child birth
Abstract: Natural childbirth and medicated birth are the two options practiced all around the world by the gynecologists, these days. However there are some issues related to both the birth process. In this paper we will discuss the pros and cons of both the natural child birth and the medicated child birth. Introduction Natural childbirth: it is a natural process with minimum medical ...
However, if David believes that he is Susan’s father (and has DNA evidence of this), he may apply to the court under section 5(3) to be declared as such.
Problem 2
(a) A man will acquire parental status and be presumed to be the father of a child either where he is married to the mother of the child at any time between conception and birth, where he is registered on the birth certificate as the father or where the court declares that he is the father. From the information given on the length of Simon and Liza’s marriage and the age of Damien it is sensible to conclude that Simon and Liza were married between conception and birth. As such, according to section 5(1)(a), Simon will be presumed to be Damien’s father.
(b) Section 3 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (‘1995 Act’) regulates who may have parental responsibilities and rights (PR&R).
Section 3(1)(a) of this Act provides that the mother of a child will automatically acquire PR&R. Therefore, as Liza is Damien’s mother, she automatically acquired PR&R upon his birth. This includes the right to have Damien live with her and also the right to have contact with him.
Section 11(2)(a) 1995 Act allows a court to make an order depriving a person of their PR&R. If Simon wishes to stop Liza from seeing Simon altogether, he would need to apply for an order using this section. Before Simon can make such an application, he must fall within one of the categories of persons who have title to apply for an order under section 11. Section 11(3)(a) provides that a person who already has PR&R has title to make an application to the court for an order under section 11. The father of a child will have PR&R where he is either married to the mother of the child at any time after conception, where (if he is not married to the mother) he is registered on the birth certificate or where the child’s mother has agreed for him to have PR&R. In this case, as Simon was married to Liza both during and after conception, he automatically acquired PR&R in respect of Damien. As such, he may apply to the court for an order depriving Liza of her PR&R on the basis of her drug addiction.
The Essay on Running Head Suffrage Of Children Without Fathers
Running Head: Suffrage of Children without Fathers Suffrage of Children without Fathers (Authors Name) (Institution Name) Suffrage of Children without Fathers We shall begin this essay with the shocking fact that nearly 50 percent of American children may in our present times be going to sleep every evening without saying good night to their fathers. The declining factor of fatherhood is amongst ...
Word Count: 612 words
Bibliography
Books
A Griffiths, J Fotheringham and F McCarthy, Family Law (3rd edn) (Edinburgh : W. Green/Thomson Reuters, 2013)
J Mair, Avizandum Statutes on Scots Family Law (10th edn) (Edinburgh: Avizandum Publishing, 2012)
J Thomson, Family Law in Scotland (6th edn) (Haywards Heath : Bloomsbury Professional, 2011)
Statutes
Children (Scotland) Act 1995
Law Reform (Parent and Child) (Scotland) Act 1986
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[ 1 ]. Section 5(1)(a) Law Reform (Parent and Child) (Scotland) Act 1986 (‘1986 Act’)
[ 2 ]. Section 5(1)(b) 1986 Act. Note that, as presumptions, the position in this section and also section 5(1)(a) may be overturned by another who has evidence of his paternity.
[ 3 ]. Section 5(3) 1986 Act
[ 4 ]. Section 5(1)(a) 1986 Act
[ 5 ]. Section 5(1)(b) 1986 Act.
[ 6 ]. Section 5(3) 1986 Act
[ 7 ]. Section 2(1)(a) 1995 Act
[ 8 ]. Section 2(1)(c) 1995 Act
[ 9 ]. Section 3(1)(b)(i) 1995 Act
[ 10 ]. Section 3(1)(b)(ii) 1995 Act
[ 11 ]. Section 4 1995 Act
