Has Acceptance of Same Sex Marriage Created Opportunities for Recognition of Other “Family Relationships?”

Columbia Law Professors Elizabeth S. Scott and Robert E. Scott have a new article, “From Contract to Status: Collaboration and the Evolution of Novel Family Relationships.” They describe the successful movement to achieve marriage rights for LGBT couples as creating potential opportunities for recognition of other legal relationships that do not depend on “traditional” notions of marriage or family, such as “cohabiting couples and their children, voluntary kin groups, multigenerational groups, and polygamists.”

In analyzing relationships that may gain greater legal recognition, the authors examine the possible influence of statutory obligations, including Pennsylvania’s filial support laws used to impose care obligations on adult children, or more recent statutes granting visitation rights to grandparents:

“Probably the strongest candidate for full family status is the linear family group composed of grandparent(s), parent(s), and child(ren). It is clear that this familiar type of extended family can function satisfactorily to fulfill family functions. Further, the genetic bond among the members, together with well-defined family roles, reinforces already existing norms of commitment and caring. The primary challenge for these extended families may be the creation of networks with other similar families pursue their goals of increasing public support and attaining official family status.More complex multigenerational groups pose a greater challenge because they are less familiar to the public and less likely to be bound by family-commitment norms than are linear family groups. Partly for this reason, regulators may find it more difficult to verify the family functioning of these unconventional multigenerational groups.”

The article was published in the Columbia Law Review, March 2015.