Cretney and Probert's Family Law

Citation

Smith, L., Pimm-Smith, R., Probert, R., Gordon-Bouvier, E., Harwood, J., & Bishop, C. (2026). Cretney and Probert's Family Law (12th ed.). Sweet & Maxwell.

Chapter Summary

The book has 15 chapters, with a preface, a table of abbreviations, a summary of contents and a detailed table of contents at the front and tables of cases and an index at the back. The publisher says it mirrors the structure of a traditional family law course, and the order bears that out: adult relationships and their breakdown first, then money and property, then children and the state.

Chapter 1: Family Law and Family Life

The opening chapter introduces the subject and its relation to family life. The publisher says the book sets issues in their social and historical context, and this is where that framing begins.

Chapters 2–4: Marriage and Civil Partnerships; Cohabitation; Divorce and Dissolution

These chapters cover the legal forms of adult relationships (marriage and civil partnership), the position of couples who live together without either, and the ending of marriage and civil partnership by divorce or dissolution.

Chapters 5–9: Ownership of Family Assets; Protection from Domestic Abuse; Family Maintenance; Dealing with Assets upon Divorce or Dissolution; Rights on Death

The middle block turns to property, protection and money. It takes ownership of family assets, protection from domestic abuse, maintenance, the division of assets when a marriage or civil partnership ends, and rights on death.

Chapters 10–12: The Welfare Principle; Legal Parentage; Parental Responsibility and Children's Rights

The book then moves to children. It begins with the welfare principle, goes on to legal parentage and ends the group with parental responsibility and children's rights.

Chapters 13–15: The Courts' Powers to Make Orders Dealing with Children's Upbringing: The Private Law; Court Orders Dealing with Children's Upbringing: The State's Role; Adoption

The last three chapters set out the courts' powers over children's upbringing, first in private disputes and then where the state is involved, and close with adoption.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–9: Adults, Property and Money

• Marriage and civil partnership: the two legal forms of formal relationship covered in Chapter 2, set alongside the law on cohabitation in Chapter 3.
• Divorce and dissolution: the ending of a marriage or civil partnership (Chapter 4).
• Family assets and maintenance: the ownership of family property, ongoing maintenance and the dealing with assets on divorce or dissolution (Chapters 5, 7 and 8).
• Protection from domestic abuse: the subject of Chapter 6.

Chapters 10–15: Children

• Welfare principle: the principle named in the title of Chapter 10 that governs the courts' decisions about children.
• Legal parentage and parental responsibility: who is a legal parent and what responsibility that carries (Chapters 11 and 12).
• Children's rights: treated with parental responsibility in Chapter 12.
• Adoption: the final chapter (Chapter 15).

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A structure that follows a typical course. The publisher presents the book as mirroring the structure of a traditional family law course, and the fifteen-chapter contents list moves in a teachable order from adult relationships to children.
• Context and debate alongside doctrine. The publisher says the text sets issues in their social and historical context and includes key debates and policy developments, so it is not only a statement of rules.
• Explicit student orientation. It is part of the publisher's Textbook Series and is aimed at undergraduate study and at non-law students taking courses with a family law element.
• Current-edition updates. For the 12th edition the publisher lists new decisions (including Standish v Standish and Re J (Loss of Parental Responsibility)) and proposed reforms such as the Courts and Tribunals Bill.

Limitations

• Narrower on the wider life of families. The chapter list does not include a chapter on families and older people, which another course text in this list has, and the sources show no comparative or cross-border chapter.
• Tied to a jurisdiction and a moment. The cases and the bill the publisher names are from the United Kingdom, and the 12th edition's updates on proposed reform will date as reforms are enacted.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within this course list Cretney and Probert is a main course textbook for a full family law course. Jonathan Herring's Family Law (12th edition) is the most direct alternative: its contents list is shorter, with 12 chapters, and it includes a chapter on families and older people and on family justice. The two differ in emphasis: Cretney and Probert has separate chapters on rights on death and on adoption, which Herring's chapter titles do not show, while Herring's list adds the chapters on family justice and on families and older people.

For a first introduction, Herring's Family Law: A Very Short Introduction explains why the law takes its shape in a brief space, and John Eekelaar's Family Law and Personal Life takes a thematic approach through ideas such as power, rights, respect and responsibility. At the other end, Bromley's Family Law (12th edition) is a long-established and more detailed account for readers who need fuller statement of statute and case law, and Claire Fenton-Glynn's Children and the European Court of Human Rights is a monograph on a single strand of children's rights.

How to Use This Book

The book suits students taking a first course in family law in England and Wales, as well as non-law students on courses with a family law element. Comfort in reading cases and statutes helps, since the publisher notes that the text relies on cases, references and explanatory narrative.

A practical plan:

• Core: Chapters 1–4 for the framework and the adult relationship, Chapters 5 and 8 for property and assets, and Chapters 10–13 for children and parentage.
• Related topics: Chapter 6 (domestic abuse), Chapter 7 (maintenance) and Chapter 14 (the state's role).
• Selective: Chapter 9 (rights on death) and Chapter 15 (adoption) when the syllabus includes them.

Where the book discusses proposed reform, such as the Courts and Tribunals Bill, check the current status of the bill before relying on it. For more depth on any area, move to a more detailed text from the list.