Abstract
This chapter presents an overview of American family law. Obviously, there are many laws that affect family life, ranging from the laws governing inheritance and the intergenerational transfer of property to the laws of taxation and zoning. In addition, there are some aspects of family law that are of profound importance but that are really part of the criminal law, including laws dealing with the national problem of domestic violence and abuse, which affects both women and children. Through most of this century, however, family law has come to mean the civil laws governing the foundation and dissolution of family and kinship relationships and the legally imposed rights and duties that govern these relationships. These are the laws of marriage, divorce, custody, visitation, child support, paternity, and adoption. These areas of law are the focus of this chapter, although from time to time issues from other areas of the law necessarily enter the discussion.
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Rosen, D.M. (1999). American Families and American Law. In: Sussman, M.B., Steinmetz, S.K., Peterson, G.W. (eds) Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5367-7_21
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