FAMILY LAW GUIDE

This guide was prepared for students working in the Suffolk University Law School Pro Bono Program although some of the resources may be useful to others doing family law research.

Outline

Introduction	Finding Resources
Secondary Sources	Primary Sources
General Treatises Massachusetts Treatises Massachusetts Web Pages Law School Family Law Web Pages General Collection of Web Pages	Massachusetts Statutes Massachusetts Regulation Massachusetts Cases Federal Statutes International Conventions & Uniform Laws

Introduction

Family law covers many areas including domestic relations, divorce, custody and adoption. Many areas of familylaw are governed by state law, but areas of family law may be impacted by federal law and international conventions. This guide introduces some important resources for family law and information on how to find additional materials particular to the legal problem you are researching. Where appropriate this guide links to other guides prepared for the Suffolk University Law School Pro Bono Program or by the Moakley Law Library.

Finding Resources

Moakley Law Library Catalog
The best search to run in the law library catalog is a keyword search.

Research Databases
The library has many databases available to current law students, faculty, and staff. The Family Law Reporter (BNA)database may be particularly useful for researching current issues in family law.

For additional information on finding general resources, see the General Resources Guide.

Secondary Sources of Law

General Treatises

Family Law and Practice / Arthur H. Rutkin, general editor. 6 Volumes. M. Bender, 1985-
KF503.4 .F198 1985.

Law of Domestic Relations in the United States / Homer H. Clark, Jr. 2 Volumes. West Pub. Co. 1988.
Law Reserve KF504 .C55 1988b.

Family Law Reporter. Bureau of National Affairs. (Looseleaf)
KF501 .A3 F3
Available on BNA (current reports) (Suffolk Law students, faculty, and staff only).

Family Law in a Nutshell / Harry D. Krause and David D. Meyer. Thomson/West 5th ed. 2007.
Law Reserve KF505 .Z9 K7 2007.

Family and Medical Leave in a Nutshell / Kurt H. Decker. West Group 2000.
Law Reserve KF3531 Z9 .D43 2000.

Family Law in Perspective / Walter Wadlington and Raymond C. O'Brien. Concepts and Insights Series. Foundation Press 2nd ed. 2007.
KF505b .W32 2007.

Family Law: Examples and Explanations / Robert E. Oliphant and Nancy Ver Steegh. Wolters Kluwer 2nd ed. 2007.
Law Reserve KF505 .Z9 O43 2007.

Understanding Family Law / John DeWitt Gregory, Peter N. Swisher and Sheryl L. Wolf.
Lexis Nexis 3rd ed. 2005.
Law Reserve KF505 .G734 2005.

Massachusetts Treatises

Family Law and Practice: with forms / Charles P. Kindregan, Jr. and Monroe L. Inker. 3 Volumes. Thomson/West 2002-
Law Reading Rm (FL 5) and Law Reserve KFM2480 .M3 Vols. 1-3 2002-.

Massachusetts Domestic Relations / John V. Harvey, Elaine M. Moriarty, Marilynne R. Ryan. Lexis Nexis 2003. 2 Volumes.
Law Reserve KFM2495 .H37 2003.

Handbook of Massachusetts Family Law / Gerald D. McLellan. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Pub. 1999-.
Law Reserve KFM2494 .M3 19990-.

Massachusetts Divorce Law Practice Manual / Phyllis E. Federico and Peter F. Zupcofska, eds. Boston, MA: MCLE, 2008.
Law Reserve KFM2500 .M374 2008.

Massachusetts Divorce Law Practice Forms / Ruth R. Budd and Peter F. Zupcofska, eds. Boston, MA: MCLE, 2000.
Law Reserve KFM2500 .A65 M37 2000.

Adoptive and Reproductive Technology Law in Massachusetts / Susan L. Crockin, ed. Boston, MA: MCLE, 2000.
Law Reserve KFM2504.5.Z9 A366 2000.

Massachusetts Web Pages

Massachusetts Bar Association Family Law Section
Membership is open to attorneys and law students. The website provides information on practice resources, legislation and links to MBA publications.

Boston Bar Association Family Law Section
Membership is open to attorneys and law students. The website provides links to BBA Task Force Reports and Guides. Use the search box to find BBA publications and links to other resources on your topic.

Massachusetts Trial Court Libraries: Massachusetts Law About
The website provides links to a wealth of information on family law topics, including adoption, child support, child custody and visitaion, divorce, marriage, same-sex marriage, and other topics.

Law School Family Law Web Pages

Legal Information Institute (Cornell)
Resources on adoption, child custody, children's rights, marriage, estates and trusts and more.

Syracuse University College of Law Family Law and Social Policy Center
Features interdisciplinary resources: full-text articles, family and social policy links, family law research guides(including New York), selected family law sites related to children's issues, marriage, health, and social policy (housing, welfare, employment, and education).

General Collection of Web Pages

Findlaw: Legal Subjects: Family Law
Summaries of child support laws, briefs and articles, databases, government agencies, journals and books, links to discussion groups and web sites.

Hieros Gamos: Family and Elder Law
Comprehensive set of links to U.S. federal and state laws and regulations, publications, discussion groups, and associations involved with family law.

Primary Sources of Law

Links to Massachusetts and Federal statutes and regulations are to free sources of law. These sources may not be updated frequently and are unannotated.

Massachusetts Statutes

Family law in Massachusetts is primarily governed by the following chapters of Massachusetts General Laws:

119 Protection and Care of Children
119A Child Support Enforcement
207 Marriage
208 Divorce
209 Husband and Wife
209A Abuse Prevention
209B Child Custody Jurisdiction
209C Children Born Out of Wedlock
209D Uniform Interstate Family Support Act
210 Adoption of Children and Change of Names

Primary source materials for family law practice can also be found in two single volume collections: Kindregan and Inker's Massachusetts Domestic Relations Rules and Statutes Annotated (2010) Law Reading Room and Law Reserve KFM2494.A29 K56 2010 and Massachusetts Family Law Sourcebook & Citator (2009), compiled by Michael L. Leshin and Phyllis E. Federico (2009) Law Reserve KFM2494.A29 M375 (2009).

Massachusetts Regulations

110 CMR 4.00, 7.000, 9.00 and 12.00 Children and Families
830 CMR 119A.00 Child Support Enforcement

Massachusetts Cases

Eyster v. Pechenik, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 773 (2008)
Draper v. Burke, 450 Mass. 676 (2008)
Caplan v. Donovan, 450 Mass. 463 (2008)
In re Hilary, 450 Mass. 491 (2008)
Abbott v. Virusso, 68 Mass. App. Ct. 326 (2007), aff'd, 450 Mass. 1031 (2008)
L.F. v. L.J., 71 Mass. App. Ct. 813 (2008), review denied, 450 Mass. 1103 (2008)
L.M. v. R..L.R.. 451 Mass. 682 (2008)
C.D.L. v. M.M.L., 72 Mass. App. Ct. 146, review denied, 452 Mass. 1105 (2008
Cherin v. Cherin, 72 Mass. App. Ct. 288, review denied, 452 Mass. 1105 (2008)
Clorio v. Marx, 72 Mass. App. Ct. 382 (2008)
J.F. v. J.F., 72 Mass. App. Ct. 782, review denied 452 Mass. 1110 (2008)
R.S. v. M.P., 72 Mass. App. Ct. 798 (2008)

For more information on the Massachusetts Courts see the Massachusetts Case Finding Guide.

Federal Statutes

Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 Pub. L. No. 102-521, 18 U.S.C. 228
Defense of Marriage Act Pub. L. No. 104-199, 28 U.S.C. 1738C
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 Pub. L. No. 103-3, 29 U.S.C. 2601, 2611-2619, 2631-2636, 2651-2654
International Parental Kidnapping Act of 1993 Pub. L. No. 103-173, 18 U.S.C. 1201,1204

International Conventions & Uniform Laws

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Oct. 25, 1980, 19 I.L.M. 1501 (1980)
Hague Convention on Protectioin of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, May 29, 1993, 32 I.L.M. 1134 (1993)
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nov. 20, 1989, 28 I.L.M. 1448 (1989)
Uniform Adoption Act (1994), 9 U.L.A. Pt.1A 11 (1999)
Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (1997), 9 U.L.A. Pt. 1A 649 (1999)
Uniform Parentage Act (amended 2002), 9B U.L.A. 295 (2001 & Supp. 2006)
Uniform Premarital Agreement Act(1983), 9C U.L.A. 39 (2001)

If you have questions or comments, please email: Ellen Delaney, Reference Librarian

Created: January 6, 2011.