A lawyer who deals in father's rights issues is usually a lawyer specializing in family law. A Family law practice concerns itself with marriage, divorce, domestic partnerships, annulment, civil unions, and parent/child issues:
- Alimony, child custody, visitation, child support awards, property settlements, and parental responsibility orders all fall under the jurisdiction of family law courts.
- Family law also governs spousal abuse, legitimacy, adoption, surrogacy, child abuse, and child abduction.