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Family Lawyer Vol. 4, No. 1 Spring 1999 A quarterly newsletter designed to provide legal information that family counselors and therapists can use to help their patients. Is there a constitutional right to be a brother or a sister? Pending before the U.S. Supreme Court is a case involving the right of a six-year-old sister to be united with her four-year-old brother. The case affects brothers and sisters throughout the country who lose their parents and then lose each other in America's foster care and adoption systems The test case A little boy named "Hugo" was placed in foster care three days after he was born to a cocaine-addicted mother. The child suffered delays in developing motor skills, speech, social growth, and emotional control. When the child was two, he was moved to the home of his older sister who had been adopted. The little boy was thrilled and did very well in his new home. He bonded with his sister and his foster mother. Just as the adoption was to go through that would make him the legal as well as the biological brother of his sister, the social service agency decided to transfer Hugo to his paternal aunt who had experience with special needs children. Although it was determined that Hugo was significantly attached to his sister and foster mother, and although it was a "heart-wrenching" decision, the court agreed with the transfer! The lower court said, "Avoiding the trauma of separation cannot always be the determining factor in adoptive disputes." Will a new right be created? The legal question to be decided is: Does Hugo have an absolute right to stay with his sister? If the Supreme Court rules that he does, this will create a new "right." The court will be finding a constitutional guarantee of sibling association. This case is a sad one because this poor child with special needs was having his emotional needs met and was progressing nicely. I believe that it is in Hugo's best interest to stay with his new family-his sister and foster mother. Let's wait to see what the Supreme Court says. I will keep you informed of the decision. The difficult divorce
More and more divorce lawyers are getting requests from their clients to file lawsuits against their spouses for: Assault and battery Years ago, husbands and wives were barred from suing each other for tortuous conduct during the marriage. Today the interspousal immunity doctrine, as it was called, is pretty much defunct. If it is found that a spouse intentionally committed any of the actions listed above, there may be financial compensation available. I have consulted with other family lawyers and have suggested that before a charge as serious as those listed above is included in a lawsuit, a mental health professional should be consulted. This is especially important if the problem involves physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.
Another area that family lawyers look at with some suspicion is where assets are hidden or tax returns are fraudulent. The family lawyer should be able to investigate these situations. Clients should also be aware that such investigations are expensive. A good family lawyer will conduct a cost/benefit analysis for the client to determine whether the amount of money being sought far exceeds the cost of finding it. Workshop: Women beware, or what you must know about divorce Pamela Cerruti, Esq., is conducting two workshops on divorce on April 8th and April 21st, at 7:15 p.m. The workshops are sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women and will be given at 513 W. Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, NJ. The cost is $5.00. The workshops are limited to women only (sorry, not my rule). Call NCJW for reservations. The telephone number is: 973-994-4994. Legal changes affect therapists A new court rule now prohibits a former or current therapist of a family member from serving as an evaluator in custody proceedings involving a family. Furthermore, a custody mediator may not subsequently: This rule has an impact on those child therapists who are called upon to give testimony on issues such as a child's progress and what parent the child should be with. The rule appears to prohibit those therapists from having to give testimony in court.
We are all familiar with the definition of sexual harassment as it pertains to the workplace, but how many people know what the rules are in schools? The case law says that before a school district may be held liable for damages to a student whose teacher had sex with him or her, two requirements must be met:
Is this standard crazy or am I? Do grown women in the workplace have more rights than little girls? Do adult women have more protection at work than little girls have in school with their teachers? How can the responsibility be less where the inequality is greater? It is time that we actively encouraged a change in the law so that schools can implement complaint procedures and discourage institutional behavior that is known to harm children. Let us really make our schools safe for our children. Take the time to write a letter to your Congressional representative. The Family Lawyer is published quarterly by Pamela M. Cerruti, Esq., for mental health and social service professionals. This publication is intended to provide information to its readers. It is not intended to offer legal or professional advice. For more information, please contact: Pamela M. Cerruti, Esq. 45 Park St., Montclair, NJ 07042 Tel: 973-746-5590 Fax: 973-509-0308 Website: http://www.Cerruti-FamilyLaw.com |
