Rethinking the Substantive Rules for Custody Disputes in Divorce

Abstract

II. THE GOALS OF A CUSTODY DETERMINATION 486 A. Ways of Thinking About Children's Best Interests ... 487 B. The Case for Considering the Interests of Parents.... 499 III. INFORMATION BEARING ON RULES FOR SOLE CUSTODY . . . 503 A. What We Know About the Needs of Children ....... 503 1. Research on the Children of Divorce 504 2. The Indirect Evidence from Intact Families and Other Sources 515 a. The relevance of gender 515 (1) Evidence favoring mothers because they are women 515 (2) Evidence favoring matching children with the parent of the same sex 524 b. The relevance of primary-caretaker status .... 527 c. A counterweight: the higher earnings of men and the relevance of resources in general ..... 538 B. What We Know About the Needs of the Parents ..... 541 IV. INFORMATION BEARING ON RULES FOR JOINT PHYSICAL CUSTODY .. 549 A. What We Know About the Needs of Children ....... 550 B. What We Know About the Needs of Parents ........ 557 V. NEW SUBSTANTIVE STANDARDS FOR THE RESOLUTION OF CUSTODY DISPUTES 558