Law of the Family. That area of law under the continental
civil law system that deals with familial
obligations such as
marriage,
annulment,
divorce,
adoption,
child custody, spousal
support of children/ancestors and related extra-contractual obligations between family members. Differs greatly between jurisdictions. As an example the
French Civil Code still recognizes the man as the head of the family unit where as the more recently revised
Civil Code of Québec recognizes the equality of the spouses. See also
matrimonial regime.