The Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act (UFLAA) creates a statutory scheme for the arbitration of family law disputes. Arbitration is a private process that parties may use to resolve a dispute rather than going to court. During an arbitration, a neutral third party, the arbitrator, hears arguments from the parties, evaluates evidence, and makes a decision on their dispute. Although arbitration has long been used in the commercial context, it has recently begun to gain popularity in the family law sphere.
Under the UFLAA, a “family law dispute” is a contested issue arising under the state’s family or domestic relations law. Family law disputes typically include disagreements about marital property, spousal support, child custody, and child support.
Under the Act, an arbitrator may not:
• grant a divorce;
• terminate parental rights;
• grant an adoption or guardianship of a child or incapacitated person; or
• determine the status of a child in need of protection.
The Act sets out arbitration procedures chronologically, from defining an arbitration agreement to providing standards for vacating a confirmed award. Many of the provisions of the UFLAA will be familiar to arbitrators and practitioners in the dispute resolution field. This is because the UFLAA is based in part on the Uniform Arbitration Act (1955) and Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000). The UFLAA’s provisions for arbitrator disclosure, award, appeals, and arbitrator immunity, among others, are drawn substantially from these earlier uniform acts.
Since family law disputes are different from traditional commercial disputes, however, the UFLAA contains some key provisions that do not appear in the Uniform Arbitration Act or Revised Uniform Arbitration Act. Many of these differences have to do with protecting vulnerable individuals during the arbitration process, such as children and victims of domestic violence. For instance, unless waived by the parties, the UFLAA requires arbitrators to be trained in detecting domestic violence and child abuse before arbitrating a family law dispute. If the arbitrator detects abuse, the arbitrator must stay the arbitration and refer the dispute to court. Likewise, if a party is subject to a protection order, the dispute will be referred to court for resolution.
Importantly, the UFLAA requires close judicial review of arbitration awards determining child related issues. While an award regarding property or spousal support is subject to limited judicial review, a child-related award may not be confirmed by a court unless the court finds that the award complies with applicable law and is in the best interests of the child. Also, de novo review of child-related awards is a bracketed alternative that a state can choose to enact. In addition, some states may want to exclude child-related disputes from arbitration altogether, and the Act provides an opt-out alternative for that purpose.
Another unique provision of the UFLAA relates to agreements to arbitrate a dispute that may arise in the future (often referred to as “pre-dispute agreements”). Pre-dispute agreements are generally permissible under the UFLAA, in accordance with the UAA and the RUAA. If parties agree to arbitrate a future child-related dispute, however, then the parties must affirm the agreement to arbitrate at the time of the dispute before proceeding to arbitration.
After the court confirms an award, a party may request a modification under state law governing post-decree modifications. If the parties agree, modification actions can be resolved by arbitration.
The UFLAA is an overlay statute meant to work together with the state’s existing choice-of-law rules and contractual arbitration law. It provides a comprehensive, clear framework for the arbitration of family law disputes, and should be enacted in every state
For more information about the UFLAA, please contact ULC Legislative Counsel Kaitlin Wolff at (312) 450-6615 or kwolff@uniformlaws.org.