Family law

This article is about the legal concept. For the television drama, see Family Law (TV series).

Family law
Entering into marriage
Prenuptial agreement Marriage Common-law marriage Same-sex marriage
Legal states similar to marriage
Cohabitation Civil union Domestic partnership Registered partnership Putative marriage
Dissolution of marriage
Annulment Divorce Legal separation (Alimony)
Issues affecting children
Adoption Child abduction Child abuse Child custody Child marriage Child Protective Services (United States) Child support Contact (including visitation) Emancipation of minors Foster care Grandparent visitation Legal guardian Legitimacy Parental responsibility Parenting coordinator Parenting plan Paternity Residence in English family law Ward
Conflict of laws
Divorce Marriage Nullity International child abduction (Convention)
Related areas
Adultery Bigamy Domestic violence Incest

Family law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including:

• the nature of marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships;
• issues arising throughout marriage, including spousal abuse, legitimacy, adoption, surrogacy, child abuse, and child abduction
• the termination of the relationship and ancillary matters including divorce, annulment, property settlements, alimony, and parental responsibility orders (in the United States, child custody and visitation, child support and alimony awards).
• Paternity fraud and testing
• Juvenile adjudication

This list is by no means dispositive of the potential issues that come through the family court system. In many jurisdictions in the United States, the family courts see the most crowded dockets. Litigants representative of all social and economic classes are parties within the system.

For the conflict of laws elements dealing with transnational and interstate issues, see marriage (conflict), divorce (conflict) and nullity (conflict).

See also

• Alimony
• Paternity fraud
• Merger doctrine (family law)
• supervised visitation

Specific jurisdictions

• Algerian Family Code
• Family Court of Australia
  • Australian family law
• Family Law Act (Alberta, Canada)
• Family law system in England and Wales
  • The Children Act 1989
  • Sir Morris Finer - Report on One Parent Families
• Malian Family Code
• Mudawana (The Moroccan Family Code).
• Civil Code of the Philippines

Further reading

• Testimony of Barbara DaFoe Whitehead, Ph.D, Co-Director, National Marriage Project Rutgers University, before US Senate Subcommitee
• Wallerstein, Judith, Ph.D., "The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce", an analysis of the long-term effect of divorce on children; NPR interview (2000)