Family Law Clearinghouse on Foundation Website

National NOW Foundation Times >> Fall 2007 >> Family Law Clearinghouse on Foundation Website

By Jan Erickson, Director of Foundation Programs

Over the past several years, the National NOW Family Law Advisory Committee has been compiling materials on a range of issues that women face in divorce and child custody cases. The information is of special interest to women involved in difficult cases where battering and/or child sexual or physical abuse has been involved. These materials are now posted on the NOW Foundation website.

The web page is intended to provide help to both protective mothers and their lawyers and to expose a trend where abusive parents use the courts to harass, punish and impoverish their former spouses and children. In many cases, NOW chapters and the NOW Foundation have been made aware of legal custody being granted to documented batterers and child abusers. Certainly, this pattern constitutes a crisis in family courts.

In addition to an extensive recommended reading list, the Family Law web page carries links to further information on courts and judges, men's custody groups, research sites, court watches and many other resources.

The committee chair, National NOW Board Member from Michigan Renee Beeker, notes that the collection is a work in progress with more material to be posted. The committee hopes to soon make available model state legislation and sample law briefs.

Users will find information on the phony Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) that is being used against protective mothers to revoke custody of minor children, with little evidence. Judges frequently ignore evidence of a father's violent behavior and grant him custody of children.

Additionally, the page contains links to legal resource kits, support organizations, safety resources, a discussion of joint vs. sole custody approaches, case studies, guidelines for custody evaluations, and other relevant topics.