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).
Whitethorn (formerly, Thorn) is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located 9.5 miles (15 km) southwest of Garberville, at an elevation of 1024 feet (312 m). Whitethorn shares a zip code with Shelter Cove, California. It is located along California's Lost Coast. The ZIP Code is 95589. The Thorn post office opened in 1888, closed in 1923, reopened in 1951, and changed its name to Whitethorn in 1961. The Whitethorn post office is located near Thorn Junction on the road between Shelter Cove and Whitethorn. Some remote areas in northern Mendocino County are also served by this post office and thus have Whitethorn addresses. Whitethorn Elementary School (grades K-7) is located in Whitethorn and is part of the Southern Humboldt Unified School District. Students from the Whitethorn area attend South Fork High School in Miranda. Whale Gulch Elementary (grades K-8) and Whale Gulch High School are about 3 miles (5 km) southeast from Whitethorn. They have Whitethorn addresses, but are located in Mendocino County and are part of the Legget Valley Unified School District. About 1.5 miles (2.5 km) south of central Whitethorn is Redwoods Monastery, a community of Cistercian nuns. The ZIP Code is 95589. The community is inside area code 707.