| Adoption and Safe Families Act - Termination of Parental Rights |
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| The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires a state to file a petition to terminate a parent's parental rights to a child if: More... |
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| Cohabitation Agreements |
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| A cohabitation agreement is an understanding between two unmarried persons who live together as to how they have agreed to treat their individual assets and how they agree to manage, control, acquire and dispose of assets in the event the relationship terminates. The advantage of a cohabitation agreement is that, if properly drawn, it will reduce the stresses that would be involved if the cohabitation relationship terminates.
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| Uniform Divorce Recognition Act |
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| The Uniform Divorce Recognition Act has been adopted by seven states: California, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The Act applies only to those seven states. The Act does not apply to any other state.
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| Adoption Assistance & Child Welfare Act |
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| The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Act) was passed by Congress in 1980. Lawmakers were concerned that many children were being removed from their homes unnecessarily and that, once they entered foster care, inadequate efforts were made to either reunify them with their biological families or place them with adoptive families. The Act was passed to correct or alleviate problems in the foster care system and to promote permanency rather than multiple foster placements. An additional goal of the Act was to encourage social workers to work toward reunification of the family and to avoid long-term foster care for the children if possible. If the child could not be returned to the family, another plan was to be sought such as adoption, long-term foster care, or some other resolution. More... |
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| Mortgage Issues and Divorce |
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| If a divorce decree awards one party the marital home, that party is typically required to pay the mortgage, unless other stipulations were made during the divorce proceedings. Most often the mortgage is a joint mortgage and therefore constitutes a joint debt. However, if one party that is awarded possession of the marital home and is ordered to pay the mortgage, that party theoretically becomes responsible for the entire mortgage. More... |
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