Famil law
Mike LS 301 – Fall 2003 October 27, 2003 Essay – Chapter 8 FAMILY LAW Family Law is governed by state statute which is in the domain of each state. Under the Roman law, man and woman who lived together and had sexual relations were considered married. This later became known as common law marriage, but it was actually an informal marriage. In the late nineteenth century, the English Parlament called for ceremonial marriages, but during that time, the American colonies did not insist on this type of marriage but they did recognized the marriage of common law, and began statutory requirements concerning age and the capacity to marry. ... Eventually, almost all states abolished common law marriages. ... The Uniform Marriage & Divorce Act (UMDA) approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on state law in 1970 and adopted in nine states, used the term maintenance instead of alimony awards to a spouse when: • Financial resources of the party is seeking maintenance • Time to acquire sufficient education or training to find appropriate employment • Duration of the marriage • Age, physical and emotional condition of the spouse • The spouse whom maintenance is sought meets his needs The concept of rehabilitative alimony emerged through statutory enactment which was designed to provide short-term alimony and is based on time for a souse to become self-sufficient. ... Divorce is mainly focused on issues of: • Alimony • Property division • Custody and child support, and • Visitation rights In 1983, a California Appellate court pointed out that proceedings for a divorce are no longer actions by which one party seeks redress for wrongs committed by another and that the cause of action by one party against the other is wholly foreign to family proceedings under its Family Law Act. Alimony stems from English common law where a husband must support his wife during her lifetime until she remarries.