ABSTRACT
This chapter casts a critical and exploratory eye on the American family and on family law in various United States jurisdictions. It discusses what ‘the family’ means in American legal and social institutions and discovers trends in divorce, property relations between spouses and cohabitants, the legal recognition of same-sex couples and in the law relating to children. The chapter compares the American experience of these topics with that of other common law regions such as the Commonwealth and England and Wales.
