Contract Sports

I explore ways that the private law of commerce can be imported to the private law of domestic relations to remedy family law's inadequacy and inequality. Existing domestic relations law posits heterosexual marriage as naturally superior to other forms of intimate affiliation, rendering the others (such as cohabitation, same-sex sexuality, and polyamory) unnatural and inferior. As such, it fails to recognize many intimate affiliations. Two examples of bridging the divide between private business law and private family law that I discuss in this essay are cohabitation contracts and Premarital Security Agreements.

Importing private business models to domestic relations law has the potential to contribute to a reconstruction of law and sexuality to recognize that we can all be champions. At a minimum, a focus on contract sports offers models in which many more of us win than the current, naturalized, model of family.