Principles of strongUstrong.S. Family Law.pdfVIP

College of William Mary Law School William Mary Law School Scholarship Repository Fa ulty Publications Fa ulty and Deans 2006 Principles of U.S. Family Law Vivian E. Hamilton William Mary L aw School, vhamilton@ Repository Citation Hamilton, Vivian E., Prin iples of U.S. Family Law (2006). Faculty P ublications. Paper 184. /fa pubs/184 Copyright c 2006 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. /fa pubs ARTICLE PRINCIPLES OF U.S. FAMILY LAW Vivian Hamilton* What explains US. family law? What are the orzgms of the current chaos and controversy in the field, the home of some of the most vituperative debates in public policy? To answer these questions, this Article identifies and examines family laws foundational principles. It undertakes a conceptual analysis ofthe legalpractices that governfamilies. This analysis has yet to be done, and its absence hamstrings constructive thought on our family law. The Article develops a typology that conceptualizes US.family law and exposes its underlyingprinciples. First, it identifies the significant elements, or rules, offamily law. Second, it demonstrates that these rules reflect or embodyfour important concepts- conjugality, privacy (familial as well as individual), contract, and parens patriae. Third, it shows that the concepts offamily law in turn embody two distinct underlying principles-Biblical traditionalism and liberal individualism. From these powerful principles, we can derive modern U.S. famil