Family Law

3 units

This course examines the state’s role in family and intimate life, with primary emphasis on the formation, recognition, protection, and dissolution of adult relationships. Specific topics include marriage, marital property regimes, nonmarriage and nontraditional families, divorce, and divorce’s consequences (including financial consequences and child custody), as well as broad doctrinal and theoretical issues such as family privacy; constitutional protection of the family; contrasting concepts of “family”; law’s response to dependency; and the role of gender, race, and class in shaping family laws and norms. Please note: This course will NOT cover issues of parentage, foster care, adoption, assisted reproduction, and reproductive justice although they fall under the larger umbrella of family law. Students seeking coverage of these matters should take the Adoption & Assisted Reproduction course scheduled for Fall 2025; students seeking coverage of the full range of family law topics should take both that course and this one. Because class discussion is a vital part of this course, regular class attendance and preparation are required, and students may not use laptops. Grades will be based on a three-hour final exam with additional points for class participation and performance on any in-class exercises.