State Family Codes Can Restore Families

Each semester when I teach Family Law students are assigned to research and compile their chosen state jurisdiction’s statutory family law code. This fall several students were pleasant surprised to find that their state codes reflected a desire to not only stabilize families but to restore family relationship whenever possible. For example California students discovered that their state code requires family conciliation efforts when divorce is sought. Matt Roach, Grace del Rosario and Ian Martin were all pleasantly surprised by this fact, and encouraged for the future practice of family law.

Nathan McGrath plans to return to Pennsylvania, and made some specific comments about the policies embodied in his state’s family law code. Read some of his thoughts:

“I thought that this policy language (and the fact that they specifically label it “policy”) at the beginning of the divorce section in the PA code was interesting. I must have missed it my first time through. Probably because I was looking for specific provisions and wasn’t perusing the code as I was tonight. In any case, I found 3102(a)(2) very interesting and encouraging. PA seems to really want reconciliation of the family, and must recognize—as we have talked about in class—that the best environment for raising the children is having both natural parents together. …”

PA Code sec. 3102(a)(2):

(a) Policy.--The family is the basic unit in society and the protection and preservation of the family is of paramount public concern. Therefore, it is the policy of the Commonwealth to:

(1) Make the law for legal dissolution of marriage effective for dealing with the realities of matrimonial experience.

(2) Encourage and effect reconciliation and settlement of differences between spouses, especially where children are involved.

(3) Give primary consideration to the welfare of the family rather than the vindication of private rights or the punishment of matrimonial wrongs.

(4) Mitigate the harm to the spouses and their children caused by the legal dissolution of the marriage.

(5) Seek causes rather than symptoms of family disintegration and cooperate with and utilize the resources available to deal with family problems.

(6) Effectuate economic justice between parties who are divorced or separated and grant or withhold alimony according to the actual need and ability to pay of the parties and insure a fair and just determination and settlement of their property rights.

(b) Construction of part.--The objectives set forth in subsection (a) shall be considered in construing provisions of this part and shall be regarded as expressing the legislative intent.

State family codes can indeed work to restore families, and so can the attorneys who work with that state code to serve their clients in family law matters, from “mitigating harm,” to “encouraging and effecting reconciliation” in the family.