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).
Carlinville is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 Federal Census, the population was 5,685. It is the county seat of Macoupin County, and so it is an outlying part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Carlinville is also the home of Blackburn College, a small college affiliated with the Presbyterian church.