Women who volunteer to carry a child for another family are generous and loving individuals. They knowingly agree to have an embryo transferred to their uterus in a brief out-patient procedure, and then gestate the growing fetus for the full term of a pregnancy. They are aware of the medical risks all deliveries present as…
Adoption is challenging. There are fewer healthy infants available for adoption, according to the US government’s child welfare information gateway, “in part because of the decreased stigma regarding single parenting, so the wait for a healthy infant can be long. Agency and birth family preferences also play a significant role.” Some potential birth mothers, or…
In 2016, a case was published by the California State Court of Appeal that gave clarity to the difficult financial decisions some single mothers must weigh when raising their children. Child support payments from a former spouse can be hotly contentious. This is especially true when the single mother receives additional financial aid from her…
Estate planning can be particularly impactful on women. Women need to be well-versed in creating an estate plan for themselves and their family. Why? Women are more likely to marry older men than men are likely to marry older women. Coupled with their longer life-spans, by age 65 a woman is three-times as likely to…
A family-law attorney who reduces conflict in a divorce: hypocrisy? Absolutely not! Here is why mediation and “settling” are great strategies. Mediation, icky! I think part of the reason mediation gets a bum rap is its close affiliation with mandatory arbitration clauses. Mediation and arbitration are two alternatives to a costly courtroom battle. However, their…
Hospital records are lost! The judge is on vacation! Our dog ate the contract! Fear not, all good lawyers have contingency plans. Surrogacy makes people curious and sometimes wary. After all, what happens if things go wrong? In the 1980s, the Baby M case pitted absentee intended parents against a somewhat unstable biological surrogate. A…
How do you mitigate tensions in creating an estate plan? Write a precatory letter, of course! A precatory letter is the document some clients use to express their love to their families. The letter is not, in itself, a legally binding document, but is meant to provide an emotional cushion for loved-ones if they are…
