DCSIMG

Family Law

The issue here is the deceptively simple question, "What is a family?" We might answer that question differently now than we did even 20 years ago. Today's family members negotiate a web of relationships far more complex than those depicted by the ever cheerful step-family on The Brady Bunch. Our families may include birth parents and adoptive parents, gay and lesbian partners, and step-siblings from multiple families. Our notion of what it takes to create and re-create a family has changed over the years, as well. We cast a skeptical eye as we watch Brady Bunch reruns, knowing it's unlikely that any newlyweds (whether married for the first or third time, with no children or six children) could create a new family with as little effort and as much bliss as Mike and Carol Brady did.

Family lawyers handle a wide range of matters-divorce; child custody, support, and visitation; prenuptial and postnuptial agreements; guardianships for the elderly, infirm, and mentally disabled who cannot care for themselves; domestic and foreign adoptions; termination of parental rights; and the establishment of paternity. As our society's definition of family continues to expand, so does the range of issues faced by attorneys specializing in family law. For example, when an unmarried gay couple adopts a child, which partner receives custody of the child if the couple splits up? If a couple undergoing fertility treatments decides to divorce, who retains frozen embryos? Are grandparents entitled to visitation rights in a divorce?

Our society's changing notion of what constitutes a family means that family lawyers have the opportunity to make creative arguments and "think outside the box." In addition, family lawyers have the chance to develop and draw upon business expertise. When working on issues related to a party's assets, a family lawyer needs a working knowledge of tax law, real estate law, employee benefits law, and estate planning.

Reproduced from The Official Guide to Legal Specialties with permission. (c) 2000 Thomson Reuters/West. For additional information on this publication please visit http://west.thomson.com/products/law-students. Copyright granted via e-mail by Donna Gies, September 16, 2008.