Suitable for students of Law, Social Studies and Social Care where Family Law is a component and those undertaking practical training in areas where an up-to-date knowledge of family law is required.

• New to this edition
  • The Adoption Act 2010: consolidates and updates existing adoption law and gives legal effect to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption 1993.
  • The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010: establishes a civil partnership registration scheme confined to same-sex couples, conferring on them rights and obligations almost akin to married couples. The Act also provides a cohabitation scheme for unmarried, unrelated cohabitants, whether of the same sex or the opposite sex.
  • The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011: confers power on the High Court to make special care orders, designed to detain children adjudged to be out of control in secure residential units for their own protection and the protection of others.
• Other significant developments receiving comprehensive coverage are:
  • Pre-nuptial agreements and the impact of bankruptcy and proceeds of crime legislation on family provision on divorce and judicial separation.
  • The use of marriages of convenience to circumvent immigration legislation. The significance of the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Zambrano case for the non-national parents of citizen children.
  • The clarification of the legal status of children born as a result of sperm donation by the Supreme Court in McD. v. L. and Anor 2009.
• Covers the key elements of family law and explains all principles and statutes clearly and concisely.