In 2000 in Troxel v. Granville, four United States Supreme Court justices determined that the “liberty interests of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children” generally foreclose states from compelling ...

American state parentage laws have evolved significantly in the past half century in response to changes in both reproductive technologies and human conduct. Yet further evolution, if not a revolution, seems inevitable. ...

American state parentage laws have traditionally required biological or adoptive ties and no more than two parents for any one child at any one time. Biological ties were demonstrated by giving birth or sperm. Adoptive ...

In Illinois, the “liberty interests of parents” are reflected in the “superior rights doctrine,” which holds, as elsewhere, that parents have superior rights regarding the care of their children. This doctrine is necessitated ...

In July 2012, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws recommended for enactment in all American states the Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act. Unlike its predecessor, the Act treats ...

The almost infinite variety of family relationships that pervade our everchanging society necessitate new forms of parentage for children with only one parent. These new forms arise long after the childrens’ births and are ...

Legal parentage under American state laws is significantly and rapidly evolving. And, it is increasingly imprecise. No longer is legal parentage only defined at precise moments in time or for particular conduct, as by ...

Recognizing the need for reforms involving, inter alia, parental and third-party childcare interests, the Illinois General Assembly created a study committee, resulting in several proposed amendments to the Illinois Parentage ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized federal constitutional childcare rights in parents that may not be easily diminished or eliminated by government. Yet it has allowed these childcare rightsholders to be chiefly ...