新编法律英语lesson11家庭法原文及翻译.docx

Family LawFamily law, or domestic relations law, as is sometimes called, isconcerned with the relationships between husband and wife andbetween parent and child, with the rights and duties that spring fromthese relationships by operation of law or contract, and with the status ofmarried persons and children. It is also concerned with the growingstatutory regulation of family life in such areas as termination of parentalrights, child neglect and abuse, and adoption.And it is concerned with some problems that affect persons outsidethe familyunit, including contraception, abortion, and rights ofunmarried cohabitants. It is traditionally state law, though federallegislation in such fields as taxation and social welfare may havesignificant impact and important problems have arisen under the federalConstitution in recent years. Strongly influenced by English law duringcolonial times, family law has everywhere been greatly altered by legislation and varies substantially from one state to another, though some uniformity has been achieved in limited areas through the adoption of uniform laws. In a number of jurisdictions it is administered by a separate family or domestic relations court, staffed with personnelwho are specially trained in family problems.Marriage in the United States is fundamentally a relationship createdby mutual consent of the spouses. All states provide by statute for the issuance of marriage licenses and some require a formal ceremony atwhich consent is solemnized before a member of the clergy or publicofficial. Common restrictions on capacity to marry relate to the age of theparties, the degree of any blood relationship between them, and theirmental capacity. A restriction can sometimes be circumvented by goingto another state that has no such restrictions, for a marriage that is validin the state of celebration will ordinarily be recognized as valid by otherstates.The marital relationship may be ruptured in two main ways: byannulment, a court determin