Family law is an area of the
lawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
that deals with
family-relatedIn human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
issues and
domestic relationsIn the common law tradition, the law of domestic relations is a broad category that encompasses:* divorce;* property settlements;* alimony, spousal support, or other maintenance;* the establishment of paternity;...
including:
- the nature of marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, civil unionA civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
s, and domestic partnershipA domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...
s;
- issues arising throughout marriage, including spousal abuse, legitimacy
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
, adoptionAdoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
, surrogacySurrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person. This woman may be the child's genetic mother , or she may carry the pregnancy to delivery after having an embryo, to which she has no genetic relationship whatsoever, transferred to her uterus...
, child abuseChild abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, and child abductionChild abduction or Child theft is the unauthorized removal of a minor from the custody of the child's natural or legally appointed guardians....
- the termination of the relationship and ancillary matters including divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
, annulmentAnnulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
, property settlements, alimonyAlimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...
, and parental responsibilityIn the nations of the European Union and elsewhere, parental responsibility refers to the rights and privileges which underpin the relationship between a child and either of the child's parents or those adults who have a significant role in the child's life...
orders (in the United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, child custodyChild custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...
and visitationIn family law, contact is one of the general terms which denotes the level of contact a parent or other significant person in a child's life can have with that child...
, child supportIn family law and public policy, child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other relationship...
and alimonyAlimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...
awards).
- Paternity fraud
Paternity fraud refers to a paternal discrepancy or a non-paternity event, in which a mother names a man to be the biological father of a child, particularly for self-interest, when she knows or suspects that he is not the biological father. The term entered into common use in the late 1990s. It...
and testingParental testing is the use of genetic fingerprinting to determine whether two individuals have a biological parent-child relationship. A paternity test establishes genetic proof as to whether a man is the biological father of an individual, and a maternity test establishes whether a woman is the...
- Juvenile Adjudication
This list is by no means dispositive of the potential issues that come through the
family courtA family court is a court convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, such as custody of children. In common-law jurisdictions "family courts" are statutory creations primarily dealing with equitable matters devolved from a court of inherent jurisdiction, such as a...
system. In many
jurisdictionJurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
s in the United States, the family
courtA court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
s see the most crowded
docketDocket may refer to:*Docket , the official schedule of proceedings in lawsuits pending in a court of law. Term also includes a case identification number and reference point and case history for all case work involving a particular case....
s. Litigants representative of all
socialSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
and economic classes are parties within the system.
For the
conflict of lawsConflict of laws is a set of procedural rules that determines which legal system and which jurisdiction's applies to a given dispute...
elements dealing with transnational and interstate issues, see
marriage (conflict)In conflict of laws, the issue of marriage has assumed increasing public policy significance in a world of increasing multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-national relationships...
,
divorce (conflict)In modern society, the role of marriage and its termination through divorce have become political issues. As people live increasingly mobile lives, the conflict of laws and its choice of law rules are highly relevant to determine:...
and
nullity (conflict)In conflict of laws, the issue of nullity in Family Law inspires a wide response among the laws of different states as to the circumstances in which a marriage will be valid, invalid or null...
.
Criticism of Family Law
Advocates of
AlimonyAlimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...
reform also critique the Family Law system. They argue that current system pits divorcing couples against each other over child support and alimony, creating a hostile environment for the family and requiring large payments to divorce attorneys.
See also
- Alimony
Alimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...
- Paternity fraud
Paternity fraud refers to a paternal discrepancy or a non-paternity event, in which a mother names a man to be the biological father of a child, particularly for self-interest, when she knows or suspects that he is not the biological father. The term entered into common use in the late 1990s. It...
- Merger doctrine (family law)
Historically, the merger doctrine was the notion that marriage caused a woman's legal identity to merge with that of her husband....
- supervised visitation
Supervised visitation allows parents in high conflict or high risk situations access to their children in a safe and supervised environment. The noncustodial parent has access the child only when supervised by another adult...
Specific jurisdictions
- Algerian Family Code
The Algerian Family Code , enacted on June 9, 1984, specifies the laws relating to familial relations in Arab Algeria . It includes strong elements of Islamic law which have brought it praise from Islamists and condemnation from secularists and feminists.-History:Its critics particularly focus on...
- Family Court of Australia
The Family Court of Australia is a superior Australian federal court of record which deals with family law matters. Together with the Federal Magistrates Court, it covers family law matters in all states and territories of Australia except Western Australia...
- Australian family law
Family Law in Australia is contained in various pieces of legislation, but also includes the common law and laws of equity, which affect the family and the relationship between those people - including when those relationships end....
- Family Law Act (Alberta, Canada)
- Family law system in England and Wales
- The Children Act 1989
- Sir Morris Finer
Sir Morris Finer QC was a lawyer and judge.As a young barrister Morris Finer also wrote leaders for the London Evening Standard...
- Report on One Parent Families
- Malian Family Code
The Malian Family Code is the family law in Mali, passed in 1962. In 2009, an amendment was proposed as widespread protests forced the president to send the bill back to parliament for review. The bill sought to increase women's rights in the country, but was still opposed by some women...
- Mudawana
The Mudawana is the personal status code, also known as the family code, in Moroccan law. It concerns issues related to the family, including the regulation of marriage, polygamy, divorce, inheritance, and child custody. Originally based on the Maliki school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, it was...
(The MoroccanMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
Family Code).
- Civil Code of the Philippines
The Civil Code of the Philippines is the product of the codification of private law in the Philippines. It is the general law that governs family and property relations in the Philippines...
Further reading