Engagement -- Marriage -- The personal consequences of marriage : general introduction -- Marriage in community of property -- Marriages out of community of property -- The dissolution of a marriage -- Personal consequences of divorce, spousal maintenance, and children -- Patrimonial consequences of divorce -- Civil unions -- Customary marriages -- Religious marriages -- The legal position of cohabitants in South Africa -- Parental responsibilities and rights -- International child abduction -- Adoption -- Inter-country adoption -- Foster care -- Family law in practice : courts, mediation, maintenance, and domestic violence.