Family Law

This best-selling textbook is loved by students and lecturers alike. Offering exceptional coverage of all key family law principles, this book also explores the theories, debates and ethical dilemmas which underpin the subject ensuring you have the knowledge required to critique the existing law and evaluate reform options.

Family Law provides you with an exceptional grounding in this fascinating, and often controversial, subject ensuring you get the most from your textbook by equipping you with:

a strong understanding of the wealth of legal principles at play in this dynamic subject area that you are likely to encounter on your course

an in-depth appreciation of the wider social, economic and political tensions which surround family life enabling you to critique the existing law and evaluate proposed reforms

a wide range of carefully selected summaries of key cases and extracts from important legislative provisions to highlight clearly the primary source material which forms the bedrock of the subject

a variety of interesting, and often surprising, key statistics relating to each topic to illustrate the practical effects of the laws you are studying on society

stimulating debates on particularly controversial, sensitive or topical legal dilemmas encouraging you to draw on your critical analysis skills to form your own opinions and evaluate the arguments posed on each side of the debate

invaluable further reading references to provide a springboard for further study

New to this Edition

Important developments in the case law on the welfare principle

New guidance on non-marriages

Recent cases on financial provision

Consideration of pre-nuptial agreements

Examination of the law on parental responsibility

Detailed discussion of domestic abuse

Brief Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
Table of cases
Table of statutes
1 What is family law?
2 Family justice
3 Marriage, civil partnership and cohabitation
4 Divorce
5 Family property
6 Property on separation
7 Domestic abuse
8 Who is a parent?
9 Parents' and children's rights
10 Private disputes over children
11 Child protection
12 Families and older people
Bibliography and further reading
Index