Family Law in the Twentieth Century: A History

Table of Cases Table of Statutes Table of Statutory Instruments An Explanatory Note on Parliamentary Procedures Introduction PART I. THE LEGAL FAMILY: MARRIAGE 1 Weddings 2 Marriage: Eligibility 3 Legal Consequences of Marriage: Property Regimes 4 Other Legal Consequences of Marriage: Conjugal Rights and Remedies PART II. THE ENDING OF MARRIAGE: DIVORCE 5 Ending Marriage by Judicial Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 6 The Campaign for Reform of the Victorian Divorce Law 7 The Ground for Divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 8 The Family Justice Process 1900-1970 9 Irretrievable Breakdown as the Ground for Divorce: The Divorce Reform Act 1969 PART III. ENDING RELATIONSHIPS: THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES 10 Marital Breakdown: The Financial Consequences 11 Maintenance, the Magistrate's Court and the State 12 The Ending of Relationships by Death: The Financial Consequences 13 Unmarried Couples: The Legal Consequences of Ending the Relationship PART IV. CHILDREN, THE FAMILY AND THE STATE 14 Parentage 15 Children's Legal Status: legitimate or Illegitimate? 16 Parents and Children: Legal Authority in the Family 17 Legal Adoption of Children, 1900-1973 18 The State, Parent and Child: 1) before the Welfare State 19 The State, Parent and Child: 2) the Welfare State and Child Care Legislation 20 The State, Parent and Child: 3) Child Care Legislation at a Time of Transition, 1969-1989 PART V. THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM AT THE MILLENNIUM 21 The Family and the Law: Reform of the English Family Justice System Towards the End of the Twentieth Century Bigraphical Notes Sources and Select Bibliography Index