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).
Reading is a town situated in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, some 10 miles (16 km) north of central Boston. The population was 23,708 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is pronounced red-ing rather than reed-ing.