Parenting Partnerships Emerging as New Alternative to Single Parenting

In a recent article, the New York Times discusses parenting partnerships, also known as co-parenting, in which two people maintain no romantic relationship but have and share responsibility for a child. In the article, proponents suggest parenting partnerships as an alternative to the traditional family framework by allowing single people to share the financial and emotional stresses of raising children. The complex legal issues involved in such an arrangement were considered as well, including the need for a written agreement to address things the parents may not anticipate, such as how much each parent will be responsible financially or what happens if a parent loses his or her job. However, the article also emphasizes how laws on parenting partnerships vary by state and that a legal document may not necessarily be binding because courts will still decide issues in the best interest of the child.

Cindy Pham is a third year law student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and contributes to IAALS Online. Please direct inquiries about this post to iaals@du.edu.