3.2.3 Read the text again to answer the following questions.

1) What does the French word tort mean?

2) What wrongdoings are covered by the law of tort?

3) What does the tort of nuisance mean?

4) What is the difference between libel and slander?

5) How is the tort of misrepresentation defined?

6) What is the difference between intentional torts and crimes?

7) Why does an individual sometimes take an action in the law of tort being the victim of the crime?

8) What does negligence mean in terms of tort law?

9) What area of tort law is particularly worrisome to businesses?

10) What does the concept of vicarious liability mean?

11) What is the aim of damages in tort?

3.3. Family law

3.3.1 Study these words before reading the text.

marriage – брак, супружество, вступление в брак

annulment - аннулирование

divorce – развод

to award = to issue a divorce – выносить судебное решение о расторжении брака

premarital agreement = antenuptial contract – брачный контракт

child support – алименты (сумма, выплачиваемая на содержание детей после развода)

child custody – опека, попечительство

alimony – алименты (сумма, выплачиваемая одним супругом другому на ее или его содержание после развода)

paternity – отцовство

spouse – супруг

valid – действительный, законный

void – недействительный

bigamy – двоеженство

underage party – несовершеннолетняя сторона

incest – инцест, кровосмешение

incestuous marriage – брак, основанный на кровосмешении

adultery – супружеская измена

foster – приемный

community property – общая, совместная собственность

separate property – личная собственность

succession – преемственность

3.3.2 Read and translate the text.

Family law deals with legal rights and obligations within the family: marriage, annulment, divorce, premarital agreement, child support and custody, property division, visitation rights, living together, and more.

Under the US family law both the man and the woman must be at least 18 years old to marry without parental consent. And there is no upper age limitation on marriages. Your spouse to be must be of the opposite sex and you can’t marry certain close relatives (marriages between a parent and a child, grandparent and grandchild, brother and sister, uncle and niece, and aunt and nephew are prohibited). And finally, you can have only one spouse at a time. If you remarry before divorcing your current spouse, you are guilty of bigamy. The second marriage is void from the very beginning.

In Anglo-American law, some marriages may be annulled. In other cases a couple may seek a divorce. The difference between a divorce and annulment is this: in a divorce, a valid marriage is legally ended, while an annulment means that the ‘marriage’ never existed. The major grounds for an annulment are: an underage party, an incestuous marriage, and bigamy. The major grounds for a divorce are: adultery, unreasonable behavior, living apart for a set period of time.

A divorce will not be issued until satisfactory arrangements have been made for any children of the marriage. These include child custody, visitation rights and child support.

Child custody can be awarded to the mother or the father. If neither parent is fit to take care of the child, the judge may award custody to grandparents, other relatives or place the child in a public institution or a foster home.

Visitation rights are awarded to the parent who doesn’t have custody of the children.

The parent who has no custody of the children must pay monthly payment called child support. The amount of child support depends on the needs of the children and the parent’s ability to pay. The obligation to support a child ends only when the child reaches the age of majority or becomes emancipated.

When issuing a divorce the judge has to decide on division of property. There are 2 kinds of marital property: community property and separate property. Community property is everything earned or acquired by a couple during marriage; separate property is everything a person owned before marriage, as well as gifts and inheritances received during marriage. The judge can divide only the community property, separate property remains the property of the spouse who owns it.

The property of a dead relative is mostly dealt with in Anglo-American law under the law of probate, or inheritance law. This is distinct from family law. Many people make a will before their death. If there is no will the laws of succession lay down who has the right to the property of a dead relative and in what order. Under Anglo-American law a surviving spouse is at the top of this order, followed by children, parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents and uncles, aunts and cousins. If there are no relatives at all the property passes to the State.