The Nature, Evolution, and Sources of Canadian Family Law; Self-Represented Parties

• Author: Julien D. Payne/Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 1-14

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The Nature, Evolution, and Sources of Canadian

Family Law; Self-Represented Parties

A. DEFINITION OF FAMILY

You might think that a book on Canadian family law would begin with a

comprehensive legal denition of “family,” but that is not possible. The term

“family” does not have a precise legal denition. Law tends to regulate the

rights and obligations of individuals, as distinct from groups such as fam-

ilies. Family law might more properly be called the “law of domestic rela-

tions” because it focuses on the rights and obligations of individuals whose

family relationships have broken down. In short, family law deals primarily

with the legal consequences of family breakdown.

People often think that “marriage” and “family” are synonymous, but

these words are not interchangeable in law. The term “family” cannot be

exactly dened. Many, but not all, families are the product of a marriage.

Two unmarried persons of the opposite sex or of the same sex who share

their lives may be viewed as members of the same family for social and/or

legal purposes.

More often than not, the presence of children signies a family relation-

ship. Children may be born of married parents or outside of marriage. Their

parents may or may not live together. The parents may have lived together

before or after the birth of the child but may no longer do so by reason of sep-

aration or divorce. Some children are adopted. In relatively rare situations,

a child’s birth may have resulted from surrogate parenting arrangements