Drawing from a wide range of material and socio-legal methods, this collection brings together original essays - written by internationally renowned scholars - investigating emerging patterns in the shape and form of the legal regulation of domestic relations. Taking as a focus the theme of 'caring and sharing, ' the collection includes chapters which reflect on: the changing contours of what we think of as 'domestic relations' * the impact that legal recognition carries in making visible some relationships rather than others * the potential for normative values carried within patterns of legal recognition and regulation * intersections between private law and public policy * the role of private law in the allocation of responsibility and privilege * the differential impact of seemingly progressive policies on economically vulnerable or socially marginal groupings * tensions between family law models and models carried within other fields of private law * and, unusually, architectures in law and the built environment designed to facilitate broader accounts of domestic relationships. This thoughtful, provocative, and wide-ranging collection will be a must for anyone, whatever their discipline background, interested in the insights and potential offered by a fresh engagement with the complexity of domestic relations and the law. It will also appeal to the general reader as it addresses topics of human interest, such as family, intimacy, and caring. (Series: Onati International Series in Law and Society