5XÉçÇøÊÓƵ

Adult Family Law (M6008)

15 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the most important rules and principles of adult family law. It outlines the rules on:

• marriage
• unmarried cohabitation and civil partnership
• domestic violence
• divorce
• child support
• financial provision on divorce
• alternative modes of family dispute resolution.

It also reflects on the central principles that frame adult family law, including autonomy, privacy and freedom from discrimination.

The module does not only reflect on the rules and principles of adult family law. It also considers the application of those rules and principles in the social and political contexts in which they operate.

You will be required to think about the nature of family relationships of adults in our society and how they should be regulated in law. The module will encourage you to think about the appropriateness of the rules that govern adult families.

For these reasons, the module will be both theoretical and extremely practical.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The 5XÉçÇøÊÓƵ may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.