Despite the fact that becoming a parent is a pivotal event, the birth or adoption of a child has little significance for parents' legal relationship to each other. Instead, the law relies upon marriage, domestic partnerships, and contracts to set the parameters of parents' legal relationship. With over forty percent of American children born to unwed mothers and consistently high rates of divorce, this book argues that the law's current approach to regulating parental relationships is outdated. A new legal and social structure is needed to guide parents so they act as supportive partners and to deter uncommitted couples from having children. This book is the first of its kind to propose a new 'parent-partner' status within family law. Included are a detailed discussion of the benefits of the status as well as specific recommendations for legal obligations.

'… a noble effort by a gifted and sincere family scholar.'

Helen Alvaré Source: Family Studies, blog of the Institute for Family Studies (family-studies.org)

'… the parent-partner status is a thought-provoking project along many dimensions. Weiner’s concern for the realities of modern families, and how fractured adult relationships affect children and parenting, has generated an original proposal for legal reform intervening directly in an area of complex problems. As a set of policy recommendations, the parent-partner status is specific, actionable and constructive. Weiner’s rich discussion of the motives and intended effects of the status add stimulating questions of the normative priorities of family law. The broader implications of her proposal, moreover, illustrate the thorny puzzle of unearthing and addressing gender stereotypes. It will take ambitions as commendably high as Weiner’s to shape family law to fit modern families and values.'

Dara E. Purvis Source: Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice

'This work presents a thorough discussion of shortcomings in the law’s current treatment of parenting relationships, potential positive outcomes for which the law should aim, and a host of ways the legal system could get us there.'

Source: Harvard Law Review