Family law
Family law 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, civil unions, and domestic partnerships:
- * Entry into legally recognized spousal and domestic relationships
- * The termination of legally recognized family relationships and ancillary matters, including divorce, annulment, property settlements, alimony, child custody and visitation, child support and alimony awards
- *Prenuptial and Postnuptial agreements
- Adoption: proceedings to adopt a child and, in some cases, an adult.
- Surrogacy: the law and process of giving birth as a surrogate mother
- Child protective proceedings: court proceedings that may result from state intervention in cases of child abuse and child neglect
- Juvenile law: Matters relating to minors including status offenses, delinquency, emancipation and juvenile adjudication
- Paternity: proceedings to establish and disestablish paternity, and the administration of paternity testing
- Rights: Children's rights, Youth rights, Mothers' rights, Fathers' rights, Parents' rights, Right to family life