The Law Dictionary

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FAMILY Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

A collective body of persons who live in one house and under one head or management. .Tahoe v. Jarboe, 100 Mo. App. 459, 79 S. W. 1162; Dodge v. Boston &T. R. Corp., 154 Mass. 299, 28 N. E. 243, 13 L. R. A. 318; Tyson v. Reynolds, 52 Iowa,431, 3 N. W. 469.A family comprises a father, mother, and children. In a wider sense, it may include domestic servants; all who live in one house under one head. In a still broader sense, a group of blood-relatives; all the relations who descend from a common ancestor, or who spring from a common root. See Civil Code La. art. 3522, no. 16; 9 Ves. 323.A husband and wife living together may constitute a “family,” within the meaning of that word as used in a homestead law. Miller v. Finegan, 26 Fla. 29, 7 South. 140, 6 L.R. A. 813.”Family,” in its origin, meant “servants;” but, in its more modern and comprehensive meaning, it signifies a collective body of persons living together in one house, or within the curtilage, in legal phrase. Wilson v. Cochran, 31 Tex. 677. 98 Am. Dec. 553.”Family” may mean children, wife and children, blood-relatives, or the members of the domestic circle, according to the connection in which the word is used. Spencer v.Spencer, 11 Paige (N. Y.) 159.”Family,” in popular acceptation, includes parents, children, and servants.

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