財産法과 비교한 家族法의 特性

The Characteristics of Family Law Compared with the Property Law

In Korean family law textbooks, one can easily find such expressions that the relations in the family law are irrational. But there is no basis for believing that the relations in the family law are more irrational than the relations in the property law in the wider sense. This assertion is derived from the belief that altruistic behaviour is irrational by itself. Surely, the individuals in the family law setting behave altruistically very often. But altruism cannot not be equated with irrationality. And Rationality covers both egoistic and altruistic behaviours. The altruistic behaviours in the family law setting can be explained in terms of kin selection and reciprocal altruism. There is one more dabate about the character of the succession law The traditional view is that it belongs to the family law. But recently there are academics who view the succession law as constituting the property law in the wide sense. In my view, the close relationship between family law and the succession law cannot be denied, because the phenomenon of inheritance of wealth cannot be explained without considering the altruistic motives between family members.