This book covers five areas of family property law in Europe: Matrimonial Property Law in Europe, Family Contracts û Issues of Autonomy, Protection of Older People in Law, Freedom of Testation and Protection of Family Members, and the Unification of Private International Law. These issues are discussed throughout the book, together addressing the broad question: what might be the future of family property law in Europe?

An original theory asserts that this distinctive form of kinship system developed in the northern Mediterranean around the fourth century A.D., and that its subsequent growth can be attributed to the efforts of the early Christian Church to acquire property formerly held by domestic groups.

Globalisation, and the vast migrations of capital and labour that have accompanied it in recent decades, has transformed family law in once unimaginable ways. Families have been torn apart and new families have been created. Borders have become more porous, allowing adoptees and mail order brides to join new families and women fleeing domestic violence to escape from old ones. People of different nationalities marry, have children, and divorce, not necessarily in that order. They file suits in their respective home states or third states, demanding support, custody, and property. Otherwise law-abiding parents risk jail in desperate efforts to abduct their own children from foreign ex-spouses. The aim of this Handbook is to provide scholars, postgraduate students, judges, and practioners with a broad but authoritative review of current research in the area of International Family Law. The contributors reflect on a range of jurisdictions and legal traditions and their approaches vary. Each chapter has a distinct subject matter and was written by an author who was invited because of his or her expertise on that subject. This volume provides a valuable contribution to emerging understandings of the subject.

The Impact of Institutions and Organisations on European Family Law looks at the impact that institutions and organisations have had, and continue to have, on European family law. In many ways the chapters in this volume provide the easiest explanation for the existence of a European family law. While there is no European body that could actually legislate definitively on family law – even the European Union has no such mandate – there are still some obvious institutions that have a very direct impact on European family law. These can be divided into two groups; namely those that have a direct impact, such as the European Court of Human Rights and the European Union, and those that have an indirect impact, such as the Commission on European Family Law (CEFL), the Council of Europe and the International Commission on Civil Status (ICCL/CIEC) as well as the private international law instruments of the Hague Conference (HCCH) and the EU. Together, with religion, all of these institutions are contributing to the creation of a European family law. This book, and the others in the set, will serve as an invaluable resource for anyone interested in family law. It will be of particular use to students and scholars of comparative and international family law, as well as family law practitioners.

This volume contains the contributions delivered at CEFL's sixth international conference, which focused on comparative and international family law in Europe in their respective cultural contexts. Inter alia in this book CEFL experts and other legal scholars address the CEFL and its Principles, the interrelation of family law and family sociology, family migration, childrens and womens fundamental rights, as well as the developing concept of parenthood, the role of children in family proceedings, extra-judicial divorces and ADR in family matters.While the development of modern trends in European family law is going on, some new challenges arise and old challenges remain. The awareness of more plurality and diversity in family relationships is increasing. Both pose problems. New legal solutions have to be integrated into the existing family law system. On the other hand, there are tensions between modern fundamental values and traditional religious solutions. For both a deeper analysis is necessary.The conference, and in turn the book, aims to enhance the exchange of ideas and arguments on comparative and international family law in Europe.

"In FELICIE, the focus is on the health of the elderly, and on the resources at their disposal to cope with the severe impairments liable to affect their quality of life. Not only personal resources - economic well-being and educational attainment - but also the potential support of close kin, i.e. their partner, of course, and their children, if available. This leads to the more specific question of care. One major conclusion of the FELICIE study is that the disabled older adults of the future will fare better, on average, than those of today, both on a personal level, thanks to higher levels of education, and on a social level, thanks to the more frequent presence of their spouse and, at least potentially, their children. The conclusions are based on the experience of nine countries across Europe (north: Finland, Netherlands; west: Belgium, France, Germany, United Kingdom; south: Italy, Portugal; east: Czech Republic). In terms of both demographic and social indicators, the participating countries are fairly representative of their region."--Publisher.

This open access book brings together a unique set of comparative data from Western and Central Europe on how contemporary families live, and discusses the similarities and differences in family lifestyles in this region. The empirical data comes from the authors‘ original research derived from adult representatives of families with children in the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. The authors compare and interpret information on the social and economic situation of families, expressed satisfaction in their lifestyles, and leisure and media in the everyday life of families. Overall, the authors bring into the discussion both current knowledge and original empirical data on families and contribute to literature on the sociology of the family, particularly in Europe. This book is useful to researchers and students interested in family issues, along with professionals in the field of family care and social policy.