PRACTICE AREA FUNDAMENTALS

Family Law Fundamentals

P R O F E S S I O N A L L E G A L R E S E A R C H

Family law is the body of law that deals with the traditionallandscape of family relationships as well as important newlegislation and case law relating to areas such as domesticpartnerships, same-sex marriage, parentage, and adoption. Thisquick reference guide highlights the family law resources onWestlaw and shows you how to retrieve relevant documents.

Family LawFamily law practice typically involves issues such as those relating tomarriage, divorce, child custody and support, child abuse andneglect, adoption, paternity, and other domestic-relations issues.Other areas of law, such as tax, bankruptcy, estate planning, andcriminal, are often a part of the decision-making process in practiceof family law.

Family law resources on WestlawWestlaw includes an extensive collection of family law materials,including state and federal primary law, secondary sources, forms,and briefs. In each category listed below, a few key databases arehighlighted. These databases and other family law–related resourcescan be accessed at the tabbed Family Law Practitioner page, shownon the following page.

Remember that the easiest way to retrieve a specific document whenyou know the citation is to use the Find service. Click Find&Print atthe top of any page to access the Find service.

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State statutes and court rulesStatutes and court rules that relate to family law arecontained in the Individual State Statutes–Annotated (XX-ST-ANN), where XX is a state’s two-letter postalabbreviation, e.g., CA-ST-ANN. To quickly access a state’schild support guidelines, click a state-specific link such asCalifornia Child Support Guidelines in the Statutes andAdministrative Materials section of the Family LawPractitioner page.

State case lawCourt decisions that construe and review family-related lawsand regulations are another important source of informationwhen you research family law. State family law cases arefound in the Individual State Family Law Cases databases(XXFL-CS), where XX is a state’s two-letter postalabbreviation, e.g., CAFL-CS.

Federal family law materialsFederal statutes pertaining to family law are contained in theFederal Family Law–U.S. Code Annotated database (FFL-USCA). Cases from all federal courts, including theU.S. Supreme Court, pertaining to family law are found inthe Federal Family Law–Cases database (FFL-CS).

Forms, checklists, and clausesThe All State and General Family Law Forms, Clauses, andChecklists database (FAMFORM-ALL) contains forms,clauses, and checklists that are helpful in the practice offamily law. To retrieve state-specific forms, clauses, andchecklists, click a link, when available, in the Forms,Checklists, and Clauses section of the Family LawPractitioner page.

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For assistance using Westlaw, call 1-800-850-WEST (1-800-850-9378).For free reference materials, visit west.thomson.com/westlaw/guides.

Family Law Practitioner page

Click a topic under RelatedFamily Law Resources to displaya tabbed page related to thattopic.

Click View Family LawDirectory to view a completelist of family law databases.