Charts 2022: Family Law in the Fifty States, D.C., and Puerto Rico, provides information about family law statutes in these jurisdictions, current through December 31, 2022. Information about selected 2022 amendments is highlighted in the charts. The topics of the 2022 charts are: Chart 1: Divorce and Alimony/Maintenance; Chart 2: Child Custody; Chart 3: “Nonparent” Custody and Visitation; Chart 4: Child Representation in Abuse and Neglect Proceedings; Chart 5: Property Division; Chart 6: Child Support; Chart 7: Parentage; and Chart 8: Domestic Violence Civil Protective Orders. These charts are provided as a resource for practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and scholars. “Keys” for each chart include information about the criteria used when reporting information for each state.
The information in the charts should not be taken as legal advice. Family law in each state has many nuances, and the law is constantly changing. The charts are based on statutory language and not on judicially-developed doctrine.
Each year, the Family Law Quarterly (FLQ) Editorial staff review and update the charts published in the journal. This process includes checking every statute, rule, and regulation listed in the charts for updates through the end of the calendar year, as well as conducting additional statutory research and consulting secondary sources.
In the 2022–23 academic year, the FLQ staff at New York Law School (“NYLS”) who worked on the charts included: Executive Law in 50 Editors Barbra E. Smith ’23 and Dylan Havlak ’23, who oversaw all work on the charts; Student Editor in Chief Caroline Shea ’23; Research and Reference Editor Rian Sirkus ’23; Curriculum Editor Kayla Brooks ’23; Development and Communications Editor Paulina Marino ’23; Executive Articles Editors Alexia Senkiw ’23 and Claudia Toth ’23; Senior Editors Shannon Bartlett ’23, Darryl Bobb ’24, Stephanie Carola ’23, Toni-Ann Kreisberg ’24, Rachel List ’23, Marly Meus ’23, Christina Mille ’23, Tiffany Sabal ’23, Lance Shopowich ’23, Gurpartap Singh ’23, Daniella Styagova ’23, and Elsie Tan ’23; Junior Editors Jennifer Balter ’24, Meg Beauregard ’24, Michelle Blaifeder ’24, Kayla Brady ’24, Alexa Gonzalez ’24, Rebecca Grigas ’25, Sarah Hannah ’24, Julianna Iacona ’24, Nicole Keegan ’24, James Kelly ’24, Nora Kelly ’24, Morgan Kirby ’24, Jessica Kovac ’24, Bogum Lee ’24, Michael Lucatorto ’24, Fabiana Macchiarulo ’23, Kaitlyn McNeil ’24, Katelyn Nardi ’24, Jamila Nicholas ’23, Alexandra Ogunsanya ’24, Sofia O’Shea ’24, Armine Parmakszyan ’24, Rupinder Raj ’23, Michael Raschilla ’24, Emma Ratti ’24, Theodore Richert ’24, Rachel Roberts ’24, Chelsea Ryan ’24, Cristina Santin ’24, Heather Schumacher ’23, Haley Schwalm ’25, Sarah Silbowitz ’24, Andrea Sinclair ’24, Mary Sharmaine Tan ’24, Gianna Vitiello ’24, and Wyatt Wilson ’23; and Faculty Editor in Chief Lisa F. Grumet.
From ABA Publishing, contributors to the editing and design of the charts included Susan Lorimor, Managing Editor; Betsy Blumenthal and Sheila Sybrant, Copy Editors; and Kyle Kolbe, Director of Digital Publishing.
Charts surveying state laws have long been part of FLQ. There have been multiple iterations of the charts and many contributors. From 1992 to 2016 the charts were developed by former FLQ Editor in Chief (and current Editor Emeritus) Professor Linda Elrod and students at Washburn University School of Law; and from 2016 to 2020, by former FLQ Editor in Chief Professor Kendra Huard Fershee and students at West Virginia University College of Law. NYLS began working on the charts in 2020. Revised versions of Charts 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 and a new Chart 4 were first published for 2020; new Charts 7 and 8 were first published for 2021. The current charts, keys, and updating systems were developed by Shelby Arenson ’21, Aliyah Polner ’21, Carolina Abdullah ’22, Natalie Gutierrez ’22, April Pacis ’22, other NYLS students who are listed with the 2020 and 2021 charts, Professor Grumet, former ABA Managing Editor Lisa V. Comforty, and Professor Hayley Pine (who contributed to Chart 4).
The information currently in the Charts is based on the NYLS editors’ review of the cited statutes, rules, and regulations from each state as of December 31, 2022. The editors also consulted some secondary sources, including the sources listed below. Secondary sources that were reviewed in 2020 and 2021 are listed with those charts.
Everytown for Gun Safety (Chart 8, Domestic Violence Civil Protective Orders): Which States Prohibit Domestic Abusers Under Restraining Orders from Having Guns?, Everytown for Gun Safety, https://everytownresearch.org/rankings/law/prohibition-for-domestic-abusers-under-restraining-orders/
Courtney G. Joslin, Shannon P. Minter, & Catherine Sakimura, More than Two Legal Parents, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Family Law § 5:23 (updated Oct. 2022) (Chart 2, Child Custody)
National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (Chart 4, Child Representation in Child Welfare Proceedings): Status Map, Abuse/Neglect/Dependency—Children, Nat’l Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, http://civilrighttocounsel.org/map
National Council for Adoption (Chart 7, Parentage): Post-Adoption Contact Agreement State Review, Nat’l Council for Adoption, https://adoptioncouncil.org/paca-state-review/; and Putative Father Registries, Nat’l Council for Adoption, https://adoptioncouncil.org/resources-and-training/important-adoption-laws/putative-father-registries-state-by-state/
N.H. Off. of Legislative Servs., Rsch. Div., State Putative Father Registries (updated Feb. 21, 2023), https://www.courts.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt471/files/documents/2021-06/registrylist.pdf (Chart 7, Parentage)
Surrogacy 360 & Nat’l Ctr. for Lesbian Rts., Regulation Details in the US by State (updated Sept. 2022), https://surrogacy360.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Regulation-Details-in-the-US-by-State_9.6.22.docx.pdf (Chart 7, Parentage)
Uniform Law Commission: Nonparent Custody and Visitation Act (2018), Unif. L. Comm’n, https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=e33c7569-9eb3-48ef-b998-cb2e558fa2de (Enactment History) (Chart 3, “Nonparent” Custody and Visitation); Parentage Act (2017), Unif. L. Comm’n , https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=c4f37d2d-4d20-4be0-8256-22dd73af068f (Enactment History) (Chart 7, Parentage)
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Office of Child Support Enforcement: Intergovernmental Reference Guide, Off. of Child Support Enforcement, https://ocsp.acf.hhs.gov/irg/welcome.html (profiles for each state) (Chart 6, Child Support Guidelines)
Jane Venohr & Savahanna Matyasic, Ctr. for Pol’y Rsch., Review of the New Hampshire Child Support Guidelines (2022), https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt476/files/documents2/css-2022-nh-child-support-guidelines-review-report.pdf (Chart 6, Child Support Guidelines; information concerns multiple states)
WomensLaw.org (Charts 1, Divorce and Alimony/Maintenance; 2, Child Custody; 3, “Nonparent” Custody and Visitation; and 8, Domestic Violence Civil Protective Orders): Legal Information, WomensLaw.org, www.womenslaw.org/laws (includes detailed information for each state concerning Divorce, Custody, Restraining Orders, and other topics)
