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Family Law in the Twentieth Century

Family Law in the Twentieth Century A History

Author: Stephen Cretney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199280919
Published In: January 2005
Format: Paperback , 976 pages
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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A detailed exploration of how the law treats families, how it has changed through the twentieth century, and how that change came about
Highlights the role of law in key societal changes of the Twentieth century, including the role of women, divorce, and the increasing role of the state in child protection
Described in the Times Literary Supplement under the heading 'Book of the Century'
The law governing family relationships has changed dramatically in the course of the last century and this book - drawing extensively on both published and archival material and on legal as well as other sources - gives an account of the processes and problems of reform. Much of the work of the courts was concerned with marriage and divorce, but there were also major changes in the legal position of married women and reform in all these areas was hotly controversial.

Family Law in the Twentieth Century gives full accounts of how the law has dealt with the relationship between children and their families, and the increasing involvement of the state in seeking to prevent abuse of children and providing for the needy. The book gives a revealing account of the processes of change and of the influence of pressure groups, civil servants, and judges, as well as individual campaigners.
Readership: Judges, academics and general readers. The book will also be found invaluable (particularly as a work of reference) by those professionally concerned with social work and the family as well as by historians.

Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
Table of Statutory Instruments
An Explanatory Note on Parliamentary Procedures
Introduction
Part I. The Legal Family: Marriage
1 Weddings
2 Marriage: Eligibility
3 Legal Consequences of Marriage: Property Regimes
4 Other Legal Consequences of Marriage: Conjugal Rights and Remedies
Part II. The Ending of Marriage: Divorce
5 Ending Marriage by Judicial Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857
6 The Campaign for Reform of the Victorian Divorce Law
7 The Ground for Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937
8 The Family Justice Process 1900-1970
9 Irretrievable Breakdown as the Ground for Divorce: The Divorce Reform Act 1969
Part III. Ending Relationships: The Legal Consequences
10 Marital Breakdown: The Financial Consequences
11 Maintenance, the Magistrate's Court and the State
12 The Ending of Relationships by Death: The Financial Consequences
13 Unmarried Couples: The Legal Consequences of Ending the Relationship
Part IV. Children, the Family and the State
14 Parentage
15 Children's Legal Status: legitimate or Illegitimate?
16 Parents and Children: Legal Authority in the Family
17 Legal Adoption of Children, 1900-1973
18 The State, Parent and Child: 1) before the Welfare State
19 The State, Parent and Child: 2) the Welfare State and Child Care Legislation
20 The State, Parent and Child: 3) Child Care Legislation at a Time of Transition, 1969-1989
Part V. The Family Justice System at the Millennium
21 The Family and the Law: Reform of the English Family Justice System Towards the End of the Twentieth Century
Bigraphical Notes
Sources and Select Bibliography
Index

Stephen Cretney, Until his retirement, Senior Research Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford

"...will be of consuming interest, not merely to family lawyers but to everyone who seeks novel and illumination insights into the social and political history of the last 150 years. It is a staggering and triumphant achievement...and now it is available to all" - The Hon Mr Justice Munby, Family Law, November 2004

"Stephen Cretney's dry, clear and unemotional style provides a welcome antidote to a world in which the outcome of family cases can drive men to dress as superheroes, climb courthouses and cranes, and bring the City to a standstill for six days." - Justin Warshaw, Times Literary Supplement

"Few people are better qualified to write this history." - Justin Warshaw, Times Literary Supplement

"One cannot fail to be impressed with [Cretney's] command of the subject." - Professor Lawrence M. Friedman, Law and Politics Book Review, February 2004

"Professor Cretney has carried out his Herculean task not only with erudition and insight, but also with wit and panache. It is immensely enjoyable..." - Mavis Maclean, Legal Studies

"...immense scholarship...meticulous care and ...skillful writing...a monumental work of outstanding merit...No serious family law scholar can afford not to read it...confirms Cretney's place as the UK's foremost family law scholar." - Professor Nigel Lowe, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family

"...essential to all those who want to think about family law...will be consulted for centuries..." - Nicholas Wilson, Judge of the High Court of Justice, Family Division, The Law Quarterly Review

"... a truly remarkable book ... will be of consuming interest, not merely to family lawyers but to everyone who seeks novel and illuminating insights into the social and political history of the last 150 years. It is a staggering and triumphant achievement ... and now it is available to all." - The Hon Mr Justice Munby, Family Law

"[A] magisterial volume" - Chris Barton, Professor of Family Law and Vice-President of the Family Mediators Association, Family Law Journal