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J. Shoshanna Ehrlich’s Fundamentals of Family Law, Second Edition is a concise version of Ehrlich’s Family Law for Paralegals, developed for use in shorter paralegal courses. The Fundamentals version provides students with the knowledge and skills they will need to be effective paralegals in a busy family law practice. Without sacrificing intellectual integrity and depth of topical coverage, the text is streamlined in order to emphasize the material that is essential for the transition from classroom to office.
New to the Second Edition:
Marriage (Ch. 1) includes new sections on:
The retroactive application of Obergefell v. Hodges to backdate marriages of same-sex couple to when they would have married had it been allowed
The debate over whether merchants can refuse to provide wedding-related services and goods to same-sex couples based on religious objections
Whether the marriage consent age should be raised to protect minors from being forced into marriage against their will.
Domestic Violence (Ch. 3) now covers:
The use of electronic monitoring in domestic violence cases
The possibility of allowing minors who are being forced into marriage to obtain civil orders of protection.
Children coverage expanded to include:
In Chapter 5, new sections on the appointment of attorneys to represent children in contested custody disputes and considerations of parental disability in best interest determinations
In Chapter 11, new section on same-sex couples and the establishment of legal parenthood
In Chapter 12, consideration of the emergence of medical child abuse and forced marriage as new categories of harm; expanded definitions of abuse and neglect, including medical child abuse and forced child marriage; and new section on “legal orphans” and the reinstatement of parental rights.
Economic Issues updated with:
New section in Chapter 6 on the due process rights of low-income parents in civil contempt cases for non-payment of child support.
Chapter 7 expanded to include the backlash against “permanent” spousal support awards and the tax treatment of spousal support payments.
Coverage of virtual assets in Chapter 8
Professors and students will benefit from:
The full range of family law topics in a more concise format—including marriage and divorce, non-marital families, child abuse and neglect, and same sex marriage
Practice-based assignments, real-life examples and sample forms
Clear pedagogy--including chapter summaries, key terms defined in the margins, and review and discussion questions--helps students better understand the material and develop their critical thinking and writing skills.
Up-to-date coverage of all the key topics in family law, with a consistent focus on the work of the paralegal
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About the authors
J. Shoshanna Ehrlich
Associate Professor of Legal Studies
UMass-Boston
J. Shoshanna Ehrlich, J.D. is an Associate Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She teaches a variety of courses including Family Law, Women and the Law, Legal Reasoning, and Childrens Rights. She also teaches an innovative Family Law Practice course in which students provide representation to a hypothetical client in a mock divorce case starting with the initial intake interview and concluding with the drafting of a negotiated separation agreement. In addition, she is an Adjunct Professor at Northeastern University School of Law, where she teaches Family Law. Before moving into the academic world, Professor Ehrlich was a family law attorney. She thus brings a real world perspective into her work as a professor and an author. In addition to emFamily Law for Paralegalsem, Professor Ehrlich is the author of emWho Decides? The Abortion Rights of Young Womenem, and she is currently working on a new book on the legal regulation of adolescent female sexuality. In addition to having published widely in law review journals, Professor Ehrlich has a range of other publications, including the co-authorship of a training manual for attorneys who represent young women in judicial bypass proceedings, a legal resource manual for family planning providers, and a series of encyclopedia entries on topics such as the adoption and foster parenting rights of same-sex couples. Professor Ehrlich received her B.A. in Political Science and History in 1978 from the University of Michigan, and received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 1982.