Also known as: family relationship · familial relationships · kinship · domestic relations
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Bonds or ties between individuals connected by blood, marriage, adoption, or similar recognized connections that trigger specific legal rights, duties, and protections.
Fatima Flores hired Fernando Farrell to handle her divorce and agreed to pay him a percentage of any alimony award. The fee arrangement made payment turn directly on the amount recovered. The lawyer could not collect under the agreement because the rule prohibits contingent fees in domestic relations matters.
Freya Freeman and Felicity French, a same-sex couple married in another state, moved to a new jurisdiction that refused to recognize their marriage. They sued to enforce equal treatment. The court held that the fundamental right to marry extends to same-sex couples and requires recognition on the same terms as opposite-sex marriages.
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Fatou Fall and Frederick Ferguson disagreed over physical custody of their child after separation. They had signed an arbitration agreement covering all contested issues under state domestic relations law. The arbitrator could decide the matter because it qualified as a family law dispute arising under the state's family code.
Fernando Farrell's unemancipated minor son was injured when Fernando backed the family car out of the driveway without checking the rearview mirror. The son sued for ordinary negligence. The court dismissed the claim under the parental immunity doctrine to preserve family harmony.
Felicity French sought to terminate a pregnancy without state interference. The state statute required spousal consent and imposed other limits on the choice. The court struck down the restrictions because the right of privacy encompasses decisions relating to family relationships and procreation.
Fatima Flores, a grandmother, moved in with her grandchildren after their parents could no longer care for them. The city cited her for violating a zoning ordinance that limited households to nuclear family members. The court invalidated the ordinance because it arbitrarily interfered with the right of family members to live together.
Yes. The Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses protect personal choices central to defining family relationships, including the right of same-sex couples to marry and to have those marriages recognized on equal terms with opposite-sex couples.
A lawyer may not enter into, charge, or collect a contingent fee in a domestic relations matter when payment or amount depends on securing a divorce or on the amount of alimony, support, or a property settlement in lieu of those items.
A family law dispute is any contested issue arising under the family or domestic relations law of the state, including matters such as custody, support, and related financial issues.
No. The doctrine bars suits for ordinary negligence arising from the exercise of parental authority, supervision, or discretion, but it is subject to limited exceptions recognized in later cases.
…(1942); contraception, Eisenstadt v. Baird , 405 U.S., at 453-454; id. , at 460, 463-465 (White, J., concurring in result); family relationships, Prince v. Massachusetts , 321 U.S. 158, 166 (1944); and child rearing and education, Pierce v. Society of Sisters , 268 U.S. 510, 535 (1925), Meyer v. Nebraska , supra . This right of…