Obligation and Commitment in Family Law

Gillian Douglas is Executive Dean and Professor of Law at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London.

Douglas provides an insightful overview of the changes in family demography and their impact on family law, which presents a good snapshot of the radical transformation to social life in the UK... Overall, the book is clearly presented and well written. It is essential reading for family law scholars.

• 1. The Ties that Bind? I. Introduction II. Care and Caring III. Legal Obligation IV. Obligation as a Social Norm VI. The Rationale for Obligations Upon Family Members VII. Obligation or Commitment 2. Family Change and Individual CommitmentI. Family Changes II. A Demographic Picture III. From the Family to the Individual IV. Change and Commitment 3. To Have and To Hold I. Compelling Cohabitation II. The Concept of Consortium III. The Suit for Restitution of Conjugal Rights IV. The Modern ‘Duty’ of Cohabitation V. Marriage as Personal Commitment 4. A Clean Break I. A Duty to Maintain II. Maintenance During Marriage III. Post-Divorce Maintenance and the Clean Break IV. Triumph of the Clean Break? 5. Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! I. Duty to State, Mother or Child? II. Limiting the Burden on the State III. Protecting the Position of Mothers IV. Supporting the Child V. A Culture of Non-Compliance 6. Parenthood is for Life I. Obligation or Right? II. Paternal Right and Maternal Concession III. A Right of Both Parents IV. A Right of the Child V. A Parental Responsibility VI. Enforcing Contact VII. A Presumption of Continuing Parental Involvement VIII. An Obligation to be ‘Involved’? 7. Who Cares? I. Care-Giving as an Obligation II. Care-Giving as a Claim to a Remedy III. Caring Relationships IV. Recognition of Caring Relationships, or Recognition of Care? 8. The Law of Family Obligations I. Care, Obligation and Commitment II. Altruism, Family Obligation and Non-Justiciability III. The Gendered Legal Approach to the Family Unit IV. Obligations and Commitments in Family Law V. Obligation and Commitment