Nonmarital Families and the Legal System\u27s Institutional Failures

As along-time critic of family law, I find it odd to be singing the system\u27s praises. And yet I am. Sort of. In this issue of the Family Law Quarterly, which addresses cohabitation and nonmarital families, I want to focus on what happens when relationships end. For all its shortcomings, family law provides an institution to help divorcing couples restructure their families following the end of relationships. For nonmarital families, not so much. Unmarried parents theoretically can go to court when they separate, but most do not. Thus., as a practical matter, the legal system leaves unmarried parents without an effective way to transition from families based on romantic relationships to families based on co-parenting. Family law has been slow to recognize this problem