The tender years doctrine is a

legal principle A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, procedural steps, or test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. A doctrine comes about when a judge makes a ruling ...

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...

since the late 19th century. In

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

, it presumes that during a child's "tender" years (generally regarded as the age of four and under), the mother should have custody of the child. The doctrine often arises in

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

proceedings.

History

Historically, English

gave custody of the children to the father after a divorce. Until the 19th century, women had few individual rights and obligations, most derived from their fathers or husbands. In the early nineteenth century, Caroline Norton, a prominent social reformer, author, journalist, and society beauty began to campaign for the right of women to have custody of their children. Norton, who had undergone a divorce and been deprived of her children, worked with politicians and eventually was able to convince the British Parliament to enact legislation to protect mothers' rights, with the

Custody of Infants Act 1839 The Custody of Infants Act of 1839 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The bill was greatly influenced by the reformist opinions of Caroline Norton. Norton had a failed marriage with her husband. Her pamphlets arguing for the natur ...

, which gave some discretion to the judge in a child custody case and established a presumption of maternal custody for children under the age of seven years maintaining the responsibility from financial support to their husbands. In 1873, the Parliament extended the presumption of maternal custody until a child reached sixteen. The doctrine spread in many states of the world because of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. By the end of the 20th century, the doctrine was established in most of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Application

In United States

The tender years doctrine was frequently used in the 20th century but is gradually being replaced by the "

best interests of the child Best interests or best interests of the child is a child rights principle, which derives from Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that “in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private ...

" doctrine of custody through changes in state statutes . Furthermore, several courts have held that the tender years doctrine violates the

equal protection clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...

of the Fourteenth Amendment to the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

. However, state courts still use the doctrine in many cases, which prompted family court reform similar to criminal justice reform.

In Europe

Most of the states in the EU have gradually abolished the tender years doctrine. In those states, the

joint custody Joint custody is a form of child custody pursuant to which custody rights are awarded to both parents. Joint custody may refer to ''joint physical custody'', ''joint legal custody'', or both combined. In joint legal custody, both parents of a c ...

is the rule after divorce or the parents' separation. The Principles of the European Family Law regarding the parental responsibilities clarifies that the two parents are equal and their parental responsibilities should neither be affected by the dissolution or annulment of the marriage or other formal relationship nor by the legal or factual separation between the parents.

Maternal preference versus tender years doctrine

Critics of the family court system, and in particular

fathers' rights The fathers' rights movement is a social movement whose members are primarily interested in issues related to family law, including child custody and child support, that affect fathers and their children. Many of its members are fathers who desi ...

groups, contend that although the tender years doctrine has formally been replaced by the best interests of the child rule, the older doctrine is still, in practice, how child custody is primarily determined in family courts nationwide. Despite this, in 1989, the

Massachusetts Supreme Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functi ...

's Gender Bias Study reported that "Fathers who actively seek custody obtain either primary or joint physical custody over 70% of the time." However, others argue the 70% figure is highly misleading because its definition of joint custody was so broad as to include visitation rights, among other issues. Critics maintain that the father must prove the mother to be an unfit parent before he is awarded primary custody, while the mother need not prove the father unfit to win custody herself, contrary to the Equal Protection Clause.

References

Bibliography

* Blakesley, Christopher L. 1981
"Child Custody and Parental Authority in France, Louisiana and Other States of the United States: A Comparative Analysis"
''

Boston College International and Comparative Law Review Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With approximately 800 studen ...

'', Volume 4, Issue 2. * Bookspan, Phyllis T. 1993. "From a Tender Years Presumption to a Primary Parent Presumption: Has Anything Really Changed? … Should It?",

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Journal of Public Law'' 8 (January). * Katz, Sanford N. 1992. "'That They May Thrive' Goal of Child Custody: Reflections on the Apparent Erosion of the Tender Years Presumption and the Emergence of the Primary Caretaker Presumption." ''

Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy The ''Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy'' is a law review run by students at the Columbus School of Law (The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.). It was established in 1985 by George P. Smith II and is published semi-annu ...

'', Catholic University 8 (spring). * McLain, Lynn. 1997. "Children Are Losing Maryland's 'Tender Years' War." ''

University of Baltimore Law Review The University of Baltimore School of Law, or the UB School of Law, is one of the four colleges that make up the University of Baltimore, which is part of the University System of Maryland. The UBalt School of Law is one of only two law schools i ...

'' 27 (fall). * Pica, Derek A. 1999. "The Tender Years Doctrine: Is It Still the Law?" ''Advocate (Idaho)'' 38 (January). * Radke, Lynn E. 1993. "Michigan's New Hearsay Exception: The 'Reinstatement' of the Common Law Tender Years Rule." ''

University of Detroit Mercy Law Review The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law is the law school of the University of Detroit Mercy and is located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan across from the Renaissance Center. Founded in 1912, Detroit Mercy Law is a private Roman Catholic law ...

'' 70 (winter). * Rinella, Lori. 1995. "Children of Tender Years and Contributory Negligence." '' UMKC Law Review'' 63 (spring).