Evolution of Family Law in an Ever Changing Society - Essay Example

?Evolution of Family Law in an Ever Changing Society A family is a group of close knit people living together in society. The various members of a family may either be bound together by blood or simply be living together under one roof in order to nurture each other and help in growth and development for the future. However, every family may be a part of some or the other domestic issue because taking care of matters like marriages, adoptions, deaths and inheritances etc have become legal matters today.1 Thus, family law is that area of law that deals with matters relating to personal aspects of society and since times immemorial it has been affecting society and growing with it at the same time. Most writers and philosophers argue that family law has evolved to suit modern society and still has to further evolve in the future generations to come. Family law deals with what are highly emotional issues objectively and legally. Despite the strength of emotion involved in many family law cases, justice must still be served to each party. Society grows with time and circumstances and as it achieves growth it must attain development as well. Laws regarding family life have been in place since a long time amidst the growth of a number of civilizations and kingdoms around the world and with time, these laws have been witnessing changes and amendments because what might have been accepted yesterday may not be taken well with the general public today. In yesteryears, it was considered fine for a man to have a number of wives in ancient societies of Greece and the Middle East. Today however, this concept has undergone a certain amount of change keeping in mind the views and aspirations of women. Polygamy might still be accepted but must follow certain rules in order to be in place. In the olden times, it was enough for the older people in the family to lay down the rules to be obeyed by the younger generations. However, as the younger people could not adapt themselves to the regulations, they began to frame laws which would appeal and be fair and just for all parties being discussed about. It became important to have a functional structure where each law was maintained with punitive requirements so that they were transparent and fair for all. Family laws come into play every time two people decide to get married, adopt a child, divorce each other, discuss the custody of their children etc. This paper is divided into the various aspects that family law deals with and each aspect talks about how family law has evolved in modern times to suit the needs of that particular aspect of society. The various aspects discussed within the purview of this paper are marriage, adoption and child custody, death and inheritance, divorce, as well as property settlements. Commencing with the concept of marriage, the entire idea of it is considered to be a sacred union of two people and of two families coming together in tandem in order to nurture their offspring and create a beautiful new generation. Couples tend to seek legal advice prior to their marriage in order to understand their financial and educational situations and whether or not they are equipped to start a family. In earlier days, arranged marriages were more common where the parents of the newlyweds to be would meet and discuss legal matters in terms of sharing child custody, sharing finances and ownership of assets. These terms were usually negotiated with the groom’s side gaining more than the bride. However, as society evolved, so did the concept of marriage. Today, marriage is seen as a celebration of two individuals and not just their families. It is important for the man and woman themselves to seek legal advice and come to terms with each other’s assets and liabilities. They must have a clean slate in order to proceed with the terms of marriage as it is seen as a contract after all. New rules of negotiation involve both parties acceding their assets and liabilities to each other. In today’s world, most of the times women still hold on to their apartments and homes even after marriage because of fear of breaking up with their partners and then not having financial and property related backups to fall back upon. Thus, as times have changed, so have the concept of marriage and its laws in society.2 Society today is very open to the idea of people living together and so live in relationships have become a very common prior aspect of a marriage. Couples seek lawyers in order to understand and agree to terms of pre and post nuptial agreements which involve rights and regulations as well as the duties of both parties with respect to their assets. Having such laws in place sometimes even help people to increase their trust in their marriage and can turn out to be a positive thing.3 Therefore, the growth of society has witnessed a change in marriage family laws from it being a simply contract between two people willing to live together and foster a family to two people actually wanting to share their love, affection, assets and liabilities. The next crucial aspect of family laws is child custody, adoption and advocacy. In case a couple gets divorced, their children still need to be taken care of because the biological parents of a child will never change. Every child has only one mother and one father whose responsibility it is to pay for their education and make sure that their child lives a safety ensured life in the future as well, till he begins to earn for himself. In the past, child custody was not a problem because divorce cases were not as common as they are today. However, as society has evolved, so has the question of families breaking up and thus a number of laws have come into place to decide the fate of a child’s future.4 Every child has the right to have education as well as the basic necessities of life which include food, shelter and clothing. It is the job of a child’s parents to be able to give these things to him. However, with changing society and rules and outlooks towards marriages, children have been borne out of wedlock and out of teenage mistakes. In such cases, it has become imperative to ensure that laws are in place to decide the child’s fate. A number of times, parents misbehave and abuse their children in which case children need to be sent to foster care from where they may be adopted by parents who actually care about children and have the aim of raising them in a stable atmosphere. Thus, it has become the function of the Court to lay down regulations regarding adoption, custody etc in order to ensure the best interests of the child. Family laws have evolved over time to suit the modern needs because today there are far more problems with respect to raising children than there were earlier. In the olden days, children were raised mostly by their original parents unless their parents had passed away, in which case they were raised by immediate family members. Today the question of legal guardians has come into view and the focus has shifted from taking care of one’s child to simply taking care of children, whoever they might be, in order to bring them up to live and give back to a better future generation.5 Divorce has evolved with time and it has now become a codified procedure which the people of the State have to follow in their respective jurisdictions. In the olden days women were deprived of many rights which were not assigned to them. They were kept behind the doors in the households and were not allowed to venture out in the open, as they were treated, in many aspects as second grade members of their families. The social structure was established in such a way that it fostered for the growth of men as well as education for them, but the same criteria did not apply to women. “Divorce is the act by which a valid marriage is dissolved, usually freeing the parties to remarry. In regions in which ancient religious authority still predominates, divorce may be difficult and rare, especially when, as among Roman Catholics and Hindus, the religious tradition views marriage as indissoluble. Custom, however, may make divorce a simple matter in some societies. Among some Pueblo Indian tribes a woman could divorce her husband by leaving his moccasins on the doorstep. The principles of individual determination and mutual consent are making divorce increasingly acceptable in the industrialized parts of the world.”6 Divorce in the olden days used to be carried out by religious means only. There was no law pertaining to such an act of marriage as women were always considered to not worthy of being heard. Men dictated the family matters in the social circles and that translated into women being unable to voice their opinions. Divorce primarily happened on woman’s inability to satisfy the needs and the wants of men, and the marriage was run according to the standards of men. Things, however, have changed in the recent times as divorce laws have been codified into the right perspective. There are legislations in each and every state which look after the affairs of the marriage and take care of such activities which might happen regardless of planning. Divorce is now a codified act where women are given their share of property and maintenance in order to lead a healthy life. Women have an equal say with respect to men and have the right to approach the court in case they do not get the divorce from men, as divorce has now become a right within marriage for women, having been regarded as an equal symbol of marriage. Deaths and inheritances are another very vital aspect of family law because the death of a member of a family decides the fate of the family’s assets and belongings. In olden times, the family’s belongings passed down to the next oldest man in the family as society was fairly patriarchal in nature.7 However, with time, the concept of a will has come into place and the family’s assets may not even necessarily be passed onto another member of the same family. For example, a recent case in England witnessed the death of a rich society woman who passed down her inheritance to her dog. This did not make sense to her children however she had decided that her dog had kept her more company during her lifetime and since her children had never bothered to keep in touch with her and were only concerned about her money and thus her dog deserved the inheritance more than anyone else.8 Thus, this is a classic case of how society has developed in the recent past with respect to family laws in the modern times. People can bequeath their assets to absolutely anyone they wish to give them to and this suits them much better because one might not have very trustworthy blood relatives. This is a very helpful concept and people are glad that the laws have evolved in the same manner because it is better to have one’s options open and interpret the law in the manner that they are comfortable with. In conclusion, with the help of the various familial aspects discussed in the paper, it is important to note that since its inception in the earlier days, family law has undergone a vast number of changes. The entire law has evolved with a view to suit modern society and will change in the future as well because just as the past has evolved into the present, so will the present into the future. In the past, there were fewer issues related to marriages, adoptions etc. However, as society has emerged and become more liberal in its outlook towards understanding people, these problems have only increased. Thus, this calls for laws to be renewed in order to maintain the best interests of all parties related to any sort of domestic disputes and meet the changing needs of the ever evolving society that we are a part of. Read More