Family law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including the nature of marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships; issues arising during marriage, including spousal abuse, legitimacy, adoption, surrogacy, child abuse, and child abduction; the termination of the relationship and ancillary matters including divorce, annulment, property settlements, alimony, and parental responsibility orders (in the United States, child custody and visitation, child support and alimony awards).
Daphne is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The city is located just off I-10, 11 miles east of Mobile and 150 miles southwest of the state capital of Montgomery. The 2000 census lists the population of the city as 16,581 making Daphne the most populous city in Baldwin County. The city estimates its present population at approximately 18,000 in 2008. It is a principal city of the Daphne–Fairhope–Foley Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Baldwin County. The inhabited history of what is now called Daphne dates at least to the Paleo-Indian period and Native American tribes around 9,000 BC. Modern day Daphne is a thriving suburb of nearby Mobile with all the expected amenities of 21st century life.