Family Law
Graphic by Alondra Pulido
Family law varies from state to state. All 50 states have different guidelines for adoption, the grounds for divorce, joint custody of children, child support, alimony, and property division. The parties in family law cases can often reach agreements outside of a trial and may choose an alternative dispute resolution process, such as mediation, to resolve their differences (for more information, refer to the Dispute Resolution Practitioners page). However, in instances where the parties cannot reach an agreement, or if there is a history of abuse, family lawyers are often hired to resolve the dispute in court.
One common area of law that family lawyers preside over is divorce. Individuals seeking to file for divorce must choose between either a fault or no-fault divorce. Currently, all 50 states permit no-fault divorces, which is the most common way to end a marriage. Under no-fault divorces, neither spouse needs to prove that the other did something wrong. Instead, an individual must prove that they can’t get along with their spouse, which is often boiled down to “irreconcilable differences” or “incompatibility.” Family lawyers are often hired to help clarify these proceedings and navigate their clients through the court process.
Many family lawyers work in small law firms specializing in family law, and clients tend to hire them based on referrals from friends and family. While some family lawyers specialize in specific areas, such as adoption, most work more generally within the realm of family law. Law students interested in pursuing a career in family law should have excellent interpersonal skills and should gain experience in the field, as it can be emotionally exhausting as well as rewarding.
Photo by Hutomo Abrianto on Unsplash
Family Law Resources
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ABA, 2023 Charts: Family Law in the 50 States, D.C., and Puerto Rico
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Pathways to Family Law [University of Washington School of Law]
Includes course planning.
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University of Washington School of Law Faculty:
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Terry Price - UW Associate Dean for Student Affairs
Teaches family law, and previously taught Family Law Fundamentals to the Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT) students.
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Lisa Kelly - UW Professor Emeritus of Law
Taught family law and child advocacy at UW Law.
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Video: A Day in the Life of a Family Law Attorney
Books
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Family Law Handbook: Understanding the Legal Implications of Marriage and Divorce in Washington State
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Publication Date: 2012Available online -
Examples and Explanations for Family Law
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Informal and student-friendly, this best-selling study guide - highly recommended by professors teaching Family Law courses - provides thematic coverage of a wide spectrum of Family Law topics, including family and marriage formation and regulation, divorce, non-marital relationships, and reproductive rights and technologies. Family Law: Examples and Explanations, Seventh Edition, combines clear text with examples and explanations that allow students to test their understanding of concepts and practice applying the law to real-life fact patterns. New to the Seventh Edition: New introductory chapter regarding the evolving definition and regulation of families in America Significant updates to chapters covering parentage, abortion, adoption, assisted reproductive technology, and alternative dispute resolution, including updated discussions of recent cases and legislation Updated hypothetical examples and explanations in each chapter based on real cases decided in the last few years Streamlined reorganization of chapters to prioritize recent trends in family law practice Professors and students will benefit from: Updated materials--utilizes recent cases and legislation to make the material current and easily applicable Explanations include analysis of a wide range of state approaches to family law issues--this pedagogical approach provides valuable exam-writing skills for students Readable and accessible--incorporates case examples and recent news to spark interest in students Straightforward presentation--clear, introductory text enables students to understand and apply principles
ISBN: 9798886142136Publication Date: 2024-12-16 -
Modern Family Law
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This dynamic casebook: - reflects the social diversity of the modern family - examines the social and legal impacts of: the women's movement, the children's rights movement, the fathers' rights movement, domestic violence, changing sexual mores, new family forms, and developments in reproductive technology - integrates valuable interdisciplinary perspectives - covers the basics of family law - presents a variety of problem exercises - heightens student awareness of the real effect of the law on people's lives through narratives and stories about the people behind the cases With cases, notes, problems, and excerpts, the Third Edition: - provides extensive coverage of the same-sex marriage debate and its ramifications, including the Lawrence, Goodridge, and Lofton cases, civil unions and domestic partnerships, parentage determinations, custody and visitation, child support, name changes, property rights, the proposed federal marriage amendment to the Constitution, and the wider implications for gender classifications in family law - presents expanded treatment of domestic violence, including Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzalez, discrimination against abuse victims in the areas of housing and employment, victims' attempts to change names and hide, and the implications for custody and support - discusses custody and visitation rights of both grandparents and stepparents in the post-Troxel era - supplies revised coverage of the family-work conflict, including discussion of the glass ceiling, the maternal wall, and the gendered household division of labor - treats right-to-die issues, most notably the Terri Schiavo case and its ramifications forprivacy, the family, and federalism - addresses partial-birth abortion bans and teenagers' abortion rights - includes expanded treatment of sexual orientation in terms of employment, housing, domestic violence, and the military's don't ask, don't tell policy - considers fetal protection measures at both the federal and state levels - deals with important evidentiary issues, such as the child abuse implications of Crawford v. Washington and the interspousal wiretapping case of Glazner v. Glazner - reviews paternity disestablishment for husbands who deny paternity after genetic tests disprove their biological fatherhood - updates issues of contraceptive fraud, such as the purloined sperm cases
ISBN: 0735556105Publication Date: 2006-07-28 -
Building a Successful Collaborative Family Law Practice
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Publication Date: 2018 -
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Family Law in a Nutshell
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Few areas of law practice cover as many issues as family law. The subject embraces marriage and divorce, annulment, custody of children, spousal and child support, complex property issues, paternity, domestic violence, adoption, and alternative means of reproduction. Each of these topics itself is complex. For example, within the broad subject of child custody lie the issues of interstate move away cases, international parental child abduction, and the impact of domestic violence on a parent's right to custody or visitation. In addition to purely legal issues, family law has a large psychological component, touching on some of the most important and sensitive aspects of human nature and interaction, such as, what is a family, what are the rights and responsibilities of parents toward children, and how should society respond to child abuse and domestic violence? All of these issues, and more, are discussed in this Nutshell.
ISBN: 9781685610517Publication Date: 2022 -
Feminist Judgments: Family Law Opinions Rewritten
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This book provides new, feminist perspectives on famous family law cases that span generations. The chapters take court decisions and rewrite them with feminist ideas in mind. Each rewritten opinion is penned by a leading scholar who relied only on materials available at the time of the original decision. The decisions address topics such as the criminalization of polygamy, intimate partner violence as a ground for asylum, the legality of gestational surrogacy, the rights of cohabitants, discrimination against transgender parents, immigration rules governing non-citizen parents, and child welfare and child support systems, among others. Each opinion is accompanied by a commentary that explains the original opinion as well as its contemporary relevance, and each commentary also is authored by a respected scholar. The combination of a rewritten opinion and its commentary provides an in-depth examination of the most important topics in family law.
ISBN: 9781108556989Publication Date: 2020-07-08 -
