Legal Research from Home Series 5: Family Law Part 1

Family law covers a broad range of topics. Most of family law can be separated into two categories: the first dealing with marriages (forming marriages and ending marriages), and the second category dealing with children (adoption, custody, and support). For part 1 of this family law portion of the legal research from home series, we will look at some online resources to research the marriage side of family law. 

EBSCOHost is a valuable online reference resource. RCLL’s subscription includes digital versions of many NOLO texts that discuss various legal issues including marriage and divorce. Anyone can use EBSCOHost at home by simply calling or emailing RCLL staff to obtain the username and password. Here you can find our “How to Use EBSCOHost Remotely” guide that includes some information on using EBSCOHost. 

While using EBSCOHost, you can access downloadable chapters from NOLO texts in the subjects of (chapters dealing with forming marriages):

• Fiancé & Marriage Visas
• How to Change your Name in California
• Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples
• Living Together
• Making it Legal 
• Prenuptial Agreements

And (chapters dealing with ending marriages):

• Divorce and Money
• Divorce After 50
• Divorce Without Court
• NOLO’s Encyclopedia of Everyday Law
• NOLO’s Essential Guide to Divorce

Apart from ESBCOHost, there are other online resources to use for researching issues regarding marriage and divorce. Some of those include:

• Riverside County Assessor’s webpage on marriage licenses and ceremonies
• California Courts Webpage on Divorce (Basic information on divorce, separation, annulment, spousal support, and more)
• Legal Information Institute Webpage on Divorce (Includes a break-down of federal and state laws on divorce)
• Riverside Superior Court Webpage on Divorce
• Divorce in Military Families (Information regarding divorce in military families differs from civilian families).

And lastly, RCLLog-on Law webpage, where you can obtain information to sign-up to use ESBCOHost and other legal databases at home. If you need help during your search, you can always reach out to RCLL staff via phone, email or our reference request form or chat with a California Law Librarian live at https://calcountylawlib.libanswers.com/ . Check out our previous blogs in our legal research from home series too:

Legal Research from Home 1: Where to Start

Legal Research from Home 2: How to Locate Free Caselaw

Legal Research from Home 3: Consumer Protection Law

Legal Research from Home 4: Employment Law

Written by: Michael Van Aken, Library Assistant