Dr. Ronald B. Standler
Essays on U.S. Family Law

1. Prenuptial and Postnuptial Contract Law in the USA, nationwide history of the validity of these contracts.
   
   
2. Legal Duty of Parent in USA to Pay for Child's College Education, history and review of law in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts (written in July 2003).
   
   
3. Reimbursement of Educational Expenses at Divorce in the USA, my nationwide review of this topic in July 2003.
   
   
4. Some Provocative Suggestions for Drafting Prenuptial Contracts in the USA, an essay I wrote in March 2004.   Please understand that I am not advising anyone to use the provocative ideas in this essay in their prenuptial agreement.   I address these provocative suggestions to attorneys who specialize in family law, to consider in appropriate situations.
   
   
5. Federal Court Jurisdiction in the USA in Family Law Cases, my April 2004 review of why federal courts do not accept cases involving divorce or alimony.   Lower Federal Court Cases 1968-82 on the Domestic Relations Exception, contains quotations from ten cases about the history of the domestic relations exception to federal court jurisdiction, with my annotations.
   
   
6. Litigated Divorce in the USA as a Waste of Marital Assets, discusses an interesting series of cases in Florida that hold that a party who causes avoidable divorce litigation can be ordered to reimburse the attorney's fees of the other party.   I also cite some cases from other states.
   
   
7. Problems with Division of Marital Property and Alimony in the USA criticizes modern state divorce statutes in the USA for:
   • having a long list of factors for a judge to consider, which gives an unpredictable result.   I explain why judges avoid using mathematical formulas for the division of martial property and amount of alimony.
   • either ignoring misconduct, or making misconduct one of many factors to consider, in a decision to award alimony.
   • possibly being unconstitutional, while I admit that it is a long shot for a judge to declare a divorce statute unconstitutional.
   This essay has a nationwide scope and cites many cases and articles in law reviews.   (written during July-October 2008)
   
   
8. Waiver of Alimony in the USA discusses history of acceptance of a prenuptial contract to waive legal rights to alimony and/or alimony pendente lite (APL).   Includes cases from major states (e.g., California, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania), my state of Massachusetts, and nationwide cases of historical importance.
   
   
9. Voluntary Consent in Prenuptial Contracts in the USA considers three difficult moral and legal issues in wife's voluntary acceptance of a prenuptial contract that was drafted by husband. At divorce, the wife attempts to invalidate the prenuptial agreement because either:
   1. ultimatum by husband to sign contract or there will be no marriage,
   2. first presentation of written contract to bride less than a few days before the scheduled wedding,
   3. bride is pregnant and also husband is father of the unborn child.
   This essay considers cases nationwide before August 2009.
   
   
10. Privacy Violations During Divorce in the USA discusses privacy torts for wiretapping a spouse, videotaping a spouse in the bedroom or bathroom, reading a spouse's e-mail or computer files, or installing a keystroke logger on a computer used by a spouse.   I also discuss the concept of reasonable expectation of privacy during a marriage and during divorce. This essay considers cases nationwide before December 2011.

Consulting Services

• pre- or post-nuptial contracts
  
  
• equitable reimbursement of educational expenses at divorce
  
  
• financial support of children's college education
  
  
• invasions of privacy in marriage or during divorce litigation (e.g., videotaping, spyware or keystroke loggers on computers, searches of garbage, reading other spouse's e-mail, etc.)
  
  
• conflict of laws between states
  
  
• constitutional issues in alimony or division of marital assets