International Family Law Desk Book

International family law has emerged as an important subject in its own right and has become part of the everyday work of family court judges and family law practitioners across the country. International family law presents many puzzles, especially in the United States. This book takes a broad approach to the subject, bringing together the law applicable to a wide range of cross-border family issues. Designed to serve as a compact and useful resource and reference tool, the chapters that follow address marriage, divorce, the financial aspects of divorce, parentage and parental rights, custody and child abduction litigation, child support and intercountry adoption. Each chapter builds on the foundation established by treaties and uniform acts, and incorporates case law, the Restatements, and important secondary sources whenever possible. The book includes extensive discussion of the international treaties that have come to form the basis for reciprocal relationships between the United States and more than 85 other nations, but it focuses on the law applied to these transnational family issues in the United States. Although written primarily for U.S. practitioners, it will hopefully also be of use to foreign lawyers and judges with an interest in understanding the U.S. system.