Family law refers to all legal matters that pertain to families, couples, and children. In the United States, most of these laws fall under state jurisdictions. Marriage is a common legal action within family law and refers to a long-term union formed between two partners. Civil unions and domestic partnerships are other forms of long-term partnerships between individuals. However, marriage is the most legally binding of the three. Naturally, divorce also falls under the consideration of family law practice. Divorce is the process of legally ending a marriage, which may involve settling custody of any children, dividing assets, and identifying child support or alimony payments. Paternity fraud is another issue that falls under the domain of family law. It occurs when a mother knowingly names the wrong father of a child on the child’s birth certificate in order to collect child support payments. Across many states, children who are born within a marriage are considered as the legal and financial responsibility of the husband, who may not necessarily be the biological father. Other issues within the domain of family law include adoption and surrogacy, both of which are options for couples that would like to have children but face fertility issues. Adoption and surrogacy contracts make it easier for a couple to legally become parents. Finally, juvenile adjudication, which involves the legal evaluation of minors who break the law, is also considered within the domain of family law, since minors are the legal responsibility of their parents.
Surrogacy refers to an agreement wherein a woman is charged with carrying a baby for anticipated parents. Upon the birth of the child, legal guardianship is transferred to the parents. There are two types of surrogacy: traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. The former refers to instances when the child is biologically related to the surrogate, […]
Since the early 1990s, same-sex marriage has become a topic subject to debate and discussion from coast to coast in the Untied States. The laws defining what constitutes a legal marriage vary from state-to-state. Currently, the country stands divided on this issue, with approximately nineteen states and the District of Columbia allowing same-sex couples to […]
Paternity fraud refers to a mother who names one man as the biological father of her child or children when she suspects or knows that he is not the father. In other cases, the mother may intentionally avoid naming the father on the birth certificate. This behavior is illegal in the United States and is […]
Marriage most often refers to the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. This longstanding tradition comes from English common law, wherein marriage was considered as a contract between the two parties involved. Additionally, marriage was considered a prerequisite to having children and creating a family unit. Those who did not […]
Juvenile adjudication refers to the process of judging and sentencing individuals under the age of eighteen – or in some cases, under the age of sixteen – who have been accused of committing a crime. This is known as juvenile delinquency. Crime is defined as a violation of federal or state law in the United […]
Inter-country adoptions involve legal means and methods that allow United States citizens to assume responsibility for a child from another country. The child is subsequently brought to live with the parents in the United States. Adopting a child from another country is not that different from adopting a child from the United States, thanks to […]
Divorce includes the set of proceedings that formally end a legal marriage. The right to divorce is not a constitutional right for all married couples; however, state governments permit it because it is a useful public policy. There are two main types of divorce in the United States: absolute divorce (“divorce a vincula matrimoni”) and […]