ABSTRACT
In the light of statistics and as in other regions of the world, the traditional model of the family in Latin America has experienced several changes. The wider variety of family forms in Latin America is expressed in a variety of constitutional conceptions of this social institution. Judicial separation exists in most Latin American legislation. Family law in Latin America is progressively recognizing the autonomy of partners and regulating new forms of family, a process that leads to the existence of a trilogy of institutions that end, dissolve or relax the marriage. As a general rule, Latin American laws require judicial proceedings for spouses who want to separate or divorce from their partners. Family law in the Region is in the process of distinguishing between the effects of divorce and separation on the spouses and those affecting their children.
