Bringing together experts from a wide variety of legal disciplines to comment on the way in which different areas of law affect the functioning family today, this volume provides a modern critical approach to bear on the broad range of subjects that used to constitute 'family law'.

This book brings a modern critical approach to bear on the broad range of subjects that used to constitute 'family law.' A key consideration in this collection is the way in which law itself is premised upon, constructing a particular image of the family. By bringing different areas of law together, Probert et al suggest it is possible to explore how differing ideas about 'the family' inform different areas of law. This approach allows Family Life and the Law to analyze the extent to which the law is consistent and/or inconsistent in its concept and treatment of the family across and within disciplines. The book is particularly timely in view of the passage of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, the implications of which reverberate throughout family law and allied disciplines, and the current reconsideration of the position of cohabiting couples.

'The "family" as a subject of legal regulation transcends both traditional law school and legal practice categories. This fascinating collection of essays, which draws together an array of legal disciplines to explore various definitions and treatments of family throughout the law, reminds us that we are all, to some extent, family lawyers.' Jo Miles, Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK 'A truly eye-opening and ground breaking book. With immense scholarship, it draws on a huge range of material to prompt thought - and suggest realistic solutions - for the legal problems of real families in the real twenty first century world. Anyone working with families or interested in the law affecting them, will find this book indispensable both as a stimulus and a reliable and practical guide.' Stephen Cretney, All Souls College, University of Oxford, UK '...it is near-essential reading for anyone teaching or researching in the field...The book is an invaluable tool in seeking to pin down the effect of the general law on family life and law, and vice versa.' Cambridge Law Journal 'This collection will be a very useful resource for anyone concerned with the laws affecting the family. I certainly expect to reach for this book as a very helpful reference point whenever I am confronted with any one of the wide range of legal issues that this volume addresses so masterfully.' Feminist Legal Studies 'This short review cannot do justice to the range and depth of the coverage of individual areas presented in this book. Suffice to say it is essential reading for anyone interested in the development and scope of family law and its interaction with other aspects of law which impact on the lives of people in multifarious familial relationships.' SCOLAG