What is a family?
The term “family” refers to the group of people consisting of:
- One man and one woman (a heterosexual couple), or two men (a homosexual couple), or two women (a lesbian couple);
- And, where applicable, their children who are still dependent on them.
A family is also referred to as “the nuclear family”. In other words, the core family or nuclear family, the family in its strictest sense.
The use of the word “family” in the law
In law, a distinction is made between the legitimate family and the illegitimate family:
- If there is a marriage or legal cohabitation, there is a legitimate family.
- If there is only de facto cohabitation, there is an illegitimate family.
This distinction is important in terms of the legal protection the family enjoys. Only the legitimate family is regulated and protected by law. This happens under the rules governing marriage and legal cohabitation. For its legal protection, the illegitimate family must rely on human rights provisions and the general legal concepts of common law. Sometimes, however, the law does refer to “the family” in both senses. For example, this is the case in article 1724, paragraph 3 of the old Civil Code and article 3.138, paragraph 2 of the Civil Code.
The broader meaning of “family”
In the broader meaning of the word, single-parent families are also included. This is the situation in which one adult lives together with dependent children. This applies where the other partner has died, the couple has separated, or where someone has never lived together with another person at all, for example an unmarried single mother.
The word “family” in the sense of household
Sometimes the concept of “family” is also used to refer to “the household” or “the family unit”. This meaning of the word “family” is used more readily in English and French. In Dutch, this meaning is hardly used. In the law, there is also only one instance in which the word “family” is used in the sense of household, namely in article 19, 5° of the Mortgage Act.