Family Law
| Author | Daniel Brannen, Richard Hanes, Elizabeth Shaw |
| Pages | 341-348 |
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"Not so many years ago, the law considered a man's wife and children as little more than his property, and he was free to treat them accordingly. Few areas of the law have undergone as much change in the past half century as the area known as family law, and few areas of the law affect so many people." (From The 21st Century Family Legal Guide, p. 19)
The importance of families to maintaining order in society has long been recognized. However, throughout much of history, most domestic (within the household) family matters were considered separate from general public law and not subject to government regulation. Family issues, including finances and disputes between family members, were almost always left for the family to resolve. Exceptions would include criminal cases of murder or assault, or other severe occurrences.
By the late twentieth century, fears were growing that a decline in "family values" was occurring. A greater desire to regulate family grew. In addition, medical advances in the 1980s and 1990s opened new avenues for both creating life and extending life. These advances led to new legal issues no one imagined only a few decades earlier. To
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further complicate matters, the character of American families was radically changing as well. Family law developed as a mix of diverse legal issues.
Dating back to early historic times of the European feudal period and later English common law, the husband was legally considered the dominant person in a family. He owned all property and held certain rights not enjoyed by the wife. The husband controlled all of the wife's property after the marriage, but was obligated to provide support for the wife and children. Marriage and divorce were considered private matters. In fact, the biggest issue prior to 1900 was the recognition by one state of marriages performed in another.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution led to many fathers working away from the household during a large part of the day. Wives assumed larger roles in raising children and taking care of the home. As a result, various states began passing laws giving wives greater legal standing. The earliest laws, like the Married Women's Property Acts, allowed wives to own and sell the property they held before marriage, to enter into contracts, and to sue others and be sued. A wife had become more of a person before the law. Then, by outlawing polygamy (having two or more marriage partners at the same time) in Reynolds v. United States (1879), the Court began to create national standards for marital (marriage) rights.
Traditionally, many Americans normally thought of families as consisting of a husband, wife, and one or two children. However, by 1970 only half of American households met that idea. A later University of Chicago study showed that by 1998 only one-fourth of households had a husband, wife, and child. The study also showed that only fifty-six percent of adults were married in 1998, a dramatic drop from seventy-five percent in 1972. Similarly, the percentage of children living in a household with two parents had dropped from seventy-three percent in 1972 to just over half by 1998. The number of children living with single parents in the same time span rose from less than five percent to over eighteen percent. And finally, the number of households composed of two unmarried adults with no children had more than doubled from 1972 to 1998 to thirty-three
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percent of American homes, actually outnumbering households meeting the earlier ideal family model.
One contributing factor to these statistics is the aging U.S. population. Grown children of married couples of the post-World War II (1939–1945) "baby-boom" generation had left home. However, this study and others clearly showed that the character of the American family had indeed changed significantly.
Various aspects of marriage are addressed by family law. Known also as a "consortium," a marital relationship is a contract through which both partners have a right to support, cooperation, and companionship. Marriages require both governmental and public recognition. A governmental license to marry must be obtained and advanced public notice given to the...
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