Description
Changes in family structures, demographics, social attitudes and economic policies over the last 60 years have had a large impact on family lives and correspondingly on family law.
The Second Edition of this Handbook draws upon recent developments to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date global perspective on the policy challenges facing family law and policy round the world. The chapters apply legal, sociological, demographic and social work research to explore the most significant issues that have been commanding the attention of family law policymakers in recent years. Featuring contributions from renowned global experts, the book draws on multiple jurisdictions and offers comparative analysis across a range of countries. The book addresses a range of issues, including the role of the state in supporting families and protecting the vulnerable, children’s rights and parental authority, sexual orientation, same-sex unions and gender in family law, and the status of marriage and other forms of adult relationships. It also focuses on divorce and separation and their consequences, the relationship between civil law and the law of minority groups, refugees and migrants and the movement of family members between jurisdictions along with assisted conception, surrogacy and adoption.
This advanced-level reference work will be essential reading for students, researchers and scholars of family law and social policy as well as policymakers in the field.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Marriage and Alternative Relationships
1.1 The Changing Face of Marriage
Marsha Garrison
1.2 Marriage and Alternative Status Relationships in the Netherlands
Wendy Schrama
1.3 The Recognition of Religious and Customary Marriages and Non-Marital Domestic Partnerships in South Africa
Waheeda Amien
1.4 Family, Same-Sex Unions and the Law
Mark Strasser
1.5 Unmarried Cohabitation
Elaine E. Sutherland
Part 2: Dissolution of Status, Death and their Consequences
2.1 Dissolution of Marriage in Westernized Countries
Masha Antokolskaia
2.2 Divorce Trends and Patterns: An Overview
Tony Fahey
2.3 Divorce Procedure Reform in China
Lei Shi
2.4 Dissolution of Marriage in Japan
Satoshi Minamikata
2.5 Relaxation and Dissolution of Marriage in Latin America
Fabiola Lathrop-Gómez
2.6 The Legal Consequences of Dissolution: Property and Financial Support between Spouses
Joanna Miles and Jens M. Scherpe
2.7 Child Support, Spousal Support and the Turn to Guidelines
Carol Rogerson
2.8 Inheritance and Death: Legal Strategies in the United States and England
Ray D. Madoff
Part 3: Parenting and Parenthood
3.1 Assisted Conception and Surrogacy in the United Kingdom
Emily Jackson
3.2 Regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy in Australia
Isabel Karpin and Jenni Millbank
3.3 Parenting Issues after Separation: Recent Developments in Common Law Countries
Belinda Fehlberg and Bruce Smyth, with Liz Trinder
3.4 The Development of ‘Shared Custody’ in Spain and Southern Europe
Teresa Picontó Novales
3.5 Parenting Issues after Separation: A Scandinavian Perspective
Anna Singer
Part 4: Child Welfare, Child Protection and Children’s Rights
4.1 Crisis in Child Welfare and Protection in England: Causes, Consequences and Solutions?
Karen Broadhurst and Judith Harwin
4.2 Child Protection: Promoting Permanency without Adoption
Allan Cooke
4.3 Adoption of Children in the United States and England and Wales
Sanford N. Katz and John Eekelaar
4.4 The Moral Basis of Children’s Relational Rights
James G. Dwyer
4.5 Children’s Rights and Parental Authority: African Perspectives
Julia Sloth-Nielsen
4.6 Children’s Rights: The Wider Context
John Eekelaar and Rob George
Part 5: Discrimination and Personal Safety
5.1 Gender and Human Rights
Fareda Banda
5.2 Domestic Abuse: A UK Perspective
Rosemary Hunter
Part 6: The Role of the State and its Institutions
6.1 State Support for Families in Europe: A Comparative Overview
Kirsten Scheiwe
6.2 State Support for Families in the United States
Maxine Eichner
6.3 Law and Policy Concerning Older People
Jonathan Herring
6.4 Support and Care among Family Members and State Provision for the Elderly in Japan
Emiko Kubono and Harumi Ishiwata
6.5 Access to Family Justice
Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar
Part 7: Globalization
7.1 International Child Abduction, Intercountry Adoption and International Commercial Surrogacy
Mark Henaghan and Ruth Ballantyne
7.2 Children in Cross-Border Situations: Relocation, the 1996 Hague Convention and the Brussels IIa Regulation
Rob George
7.3 Divided and United Across Borders: A Global Overview of Family Migration
Jacqueline Bhabha
