Abandonment is a legal term that has two chief meanings. In the field of property law, abandonment occurs when a person intentionally gives up all rights to something he or she owns. For example, if a person purposely throws away a ring, it has been abandoned. The first person to take possession of the ring becomes the new owner. But if a person loses a ring, even through carelessness, it has not been abandoned.
In family law, abandonment refers to the desertion of a husband, wife, or child without intention to support the person. Most states of the United States make it a crime for a parent to abandon a child. A father or mother who abandons a youngster may lose the right to raise the child. In the past, only men were legally responsible for the support of their families. Today, most states make men and women equally responsible for the support of their wife or husband and children.
Abandonment, also called desertion, has traditionally been grounds for divorce in the United States (see Desertion ). But in the last half of the 1900’s, all U.S. states legalized no-fault divorce, which requires only that one of the partners testify that the marriage has failed. As a result of no-fault divorce, few U.S. residents seek divorce on the ground of abandonment.
