Wikipedia defines “family law as an area of law dealing with issues relating to family and domestic relations, including but not limited to: the nature of marriage, civil unions, and common-law unions; issues arising during the marriage, including marriage abuse, legitimacy, adoption, surrogacy, child abuse and child abduction; termination of the relationship and ancillary matters, including divorce, annulment, property settlements, alimony and parental responsibility orders.
While, broadly speaking, family law encompasses all aspects of a family seen as a ‘unit of people living together for many reasons’, there are many more subtle aspects related to ‘family’ in many different contexts in different parts of the world.
Family denotes a group of persons affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence.
Consanguinity – ‘with’ means together and ‘sanguineous’ means blood; so it simply refers to people who are descended from a common ancestor. It is an important legal aspect to determine if two people can marry or to determine who inherits property left by a person who has not made a will.
Affinity in the sense of family means attraction of feelings or kinship or relationship by marriage.
Co-residence refers to persons or a group of persons living in the same residence and carrying out the responsibilities of a family or household. This may include a parent and child or children and other members who share blood ties or live together for other reasons.
Therefore, family law cannot be limited to social, economic or governmental norms. There are simply too many aspects and complexities that involve human relations that the laws in many countries have different legalities that refer to the intrinsic social and family guidelines of each country.
Stark and initial contrasts govern legislation in certain parts of the world. In some societies patriarchal laws govern while in others they are matriarchal. In many parts of Europe, before the advent of the legal system as we see it today, the Church was seen as the enforcer of the law.
Historically, family law has been based on European feudalism. In the 1970s, family law underwent rapid changes and was redefined as it had become part of the larger national debate about family values, gender bias, and morality. Particular areas of family law related to divorce, child custody, family property, etc. experienced many changes. These rapid changes allowing for quick fixes in marriage, divorce, alimony, child custody and child support generated widespread criticism from many quarters who felt that the increasing instances of marital discord and disharmony around the world They were a dangerous trend.
Family law is an increasingly important area of legal studies, with many law schools offering numerous elective courses on the subject and the bar exam that tests knowledge of this area of law. Additionally, family law is evolving as the national debate surrounding the family continues. One notable change is how family law has been expanded to encompass couples who do not choose to marry.
Today’s family unit has evolved over the generations and may be a concise or abbreviated version of the co-resident families of the past. Relationships have also evolved and new legal aspects of family law are being formed to deal with the complexities of modern life and emerging trends.
