In an ideal world, no-one would divorce, no will would be contested and no spouse or child would live with domestic abuse. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world and, as such, many of us need family law.
Discounting the Vatican, the sole country with no formal procedural law for divorce is the Philippines (as of 2014) [1]. All other countries include some legal way to dissolve the bonds of matrimony and, more recently, legal stipulations placed on common law couples or resulting from cohabitation agreements. Although mediators are used and many attempts are made to settle the splitting of property and children between the divorcing spouses outside courts, these proceedings can be messy and it is not uncommon for a judge to be involved. In fact, in Canada during 2010/11 these such cases made up more than one third of the total cases falling under family law [2] with around a quarter of them taking over two years to finalize [3]. The time taken for divorce cases brought to court can stretch depending on a number of factors such as contesting the filing, fault, alimony, property division and child custody, so it is often highly preferable to settle outside court with independant lawyers.
Image Credit: Lenin St., Surgut, Russia by Mariluna
Russia has the highest divorce rate of 5 divorces per 1000 people according to the 2010 United Nations Demographic Yearbook [4].
Other sorts of family law issues include paternity suits, the setting and enforcing of child support, adoption and fosters, the enactment of wills after a death, domestic abuse and elder law (long-term care regulations, powers of attorney, end of life issues, etc.).
References:
1. Divorce Law by Country
2. Divorce cases in civil court, 2010/2011
3 .Divorce cases in civil court, 2010/2011
4. Demographic Yearbook