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Family law

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Family law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including, but not limited to:

  • the nature of marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships
  • adoption
  • divorce and annulment
  • child custody and guardianship
  • death
  • estate planning and property settlements

Laws pertaining to these matters vary depending on the state.[1]

Divorce law

Divorce is defined as "the termination of marriage by legal action, requiring a petition or complaint for divorce."[2] Grounds for divorce vary state by state, and may be classified as no-fault or fault. All states permit some form of no-fault divorce. A no-fault divorce is one in which neither spouse blames the other for the marriage's breakdown, commonly attributed to "irreconcilable differences" or "incompatibility." Fault-based divorce is also an option for divorce in many states, for such reasons as adultery, abuse, and desertion.[1]

Adoption law

Adoption allows those between whom a biological parent-child relationship does not exist to form a legal parent-child relationship. Generally, this results in the conference of all legal benefits of the legal relationship to the adopted children, including the ability to inherit on an equal basis with any biological children.[1]

Custody law

Family courts must make custody decisions if parents cannot agree on terms for custody of their child. In these cases, the courts decide custody based on "the best interests of the child."[1] In addition to deciding custody arrangements between parents, courts may assign child support payments to be payed to the custodial parent. Guidelines for child support vary from state to state, but all states have some form of guidelines, based on the incomes of one or both parents.[1]

See also

Footnotes

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