Details
- Provides a clear and sophisticated theoretical framework to American family law that is nonetheless accessible to beginners
- Addresses the legal principles surrounding many controversial topics including same sex marriage, open adoption, surrogacy, domestic violence, and custody values
- Explains what values and principles inform modern debates about same-sex marriage, divorce reform, surrogacy, open adoption, domestic violence, custody battles, and more
- Highlights the underlying justifications and predominant foci around which scholarly contention in family law revolves
A book about family law is necessarily a book both about family life and the role law can and should take in regulating family life. Individually and together, these are vast topics. American family law is ever-changing and affects every facet of our lives. The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Family Law provides a critical introduction to the enduring topics in the field, including not only an overview of the basic rules, but also the history and principles underlying them.
In this short and accessible volume, Brian Bix gives the necessary legal background for understanding current media coverage and political debates in family law. He explores the general principles and fundamental themes that currently dominate legislation and case law in the area while marking trends for change. Topics covered include same-sex marriage, divorce reform, surrogacy, open adoption, domestic violence, and the standards applied to custody battles.
Ultimately, The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Family Law illuminates our collective struggle to shape the proper role for individuals, families, and government in U.S. family life and family law, providing an essential introduction to the richness and complexity of the subject.
Readership: Students and anyone needing a solid understanding of the key tenets of family law
Preface
Part I General Principles
Chapter 1: The Principles of American Family Law
Part II Marriage
Chapter 2: Marriage Eligibility, Marital Rules
Chapter 3: Alternatives to Marriage
Part III Parenthood
Chapter 4: Parental Authority - General Rights and Obligations
Chapter 5: Adoption
Chapter 6: New Reproductive Technologies
Chapter 7: Abuse and Neglect
Chapter 8: Children's Rights
Part IV: Divorce
Chapter 9 Divorce - Grounds
Chapter 10 Agreements
Chapter 11 Property Division
Chapter 12 Alimony
Chapter 13 Custody, Modification, Relocation, Visitation
Chapter 14: Child Support
Part V Other Topics in Family Law
Chapter 17: Domestic Violence
Bibliography and Other Sources
Cases
Constitution, Statutes, and Restatements
Brian Bix, Frederick W. Thomas Professor of Law and Philosophy, University of Minnesota
Brian H. Bix is the Frederick W. Thomas Professor of Law and Philosophy at University of Minnesota, where he teaches and writes in the areas of family law, jurisprudence, and contract law. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School and his doctorate from Oxford University. He is a member of the Bars of Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and a member of the prestigious American Law Institute. Professor Bix has published 15 books and over 100 articles; his work has been translated into eight languages.
"Professor Bix combines the analytic skills of a philosopher with the rich doctrinal knowledge of an outstanding legal scholar to write a comprehensive book on family law that is both deeply theoretical and wonderfully informative. Every family law scholar and student should read this book-as well as any educated person who wants to understand the important themes and principles that define American Family Law. He has taken a massive and messy field of law and provided an analytic frame that is sure have a major impact on the way family law is understood going forward." --Elizabeth S. Scott, Harold R. Medina Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
"Brian Bix delivers a succinct critical introduction to family law that accessibly lays out its major rules, trends, and history. The book elucidates significant principles and debates in the wide field of family law with great clarity, and still communicates the richness and complexity of the field. It will be enormously valuable to both family law students and scholars." --Maxine Eichner, Reef Ivey II Professor of Law, UNC School of Law
