Changes of legal and social family relationships in Lithuanian rural areas

ENFamily relations have always played and still play an important role in the system of social relations. The family is a primary social cell; it executes the fundamental functions of prolongation of relation, upbringing of young generation, and mutual moral and material support of family members. One of the main stages of family creation from both legal and social points of view is contracting a marriage. The form of entering into a marriage and the definition of family legal relations have been changing in the run of history depending on the culture, church and state relationship, and general philosophy of the particular period of time. The Old Testament of Holy Writ gives information about the marriage. In the ancient times marriage and family were more of a religious institution managed by the church, but as marriage is the root of every legal establishment - family, relations, church, and state - it attracted a wider mass attention. The social and legal relations and aspects of Lithuanian rural family setting and its existence at different periods were really original and interesting. Researching the conception and development of the legal and social family relations and comparing them to the modern law, essential differences can be observed, but at the same time some similarities, which have not changed till our times, can be found. At all times the prevailing family model in Lithuania was the traditional family model and the main differences in comparison to the modern family model are the forms of marriage registration and its stability. This family model was predominant in the rural areas of late XIX century Lithuania. Key words: family, marriage, rural areas, adoption, divorce.