Family court is a court that has been established to hear cases that pertain to Family Law. Family court has definite jurisdiction over all cases that pertain to the following: custody of children, visitation rights to children, restraining orders, emancipation of minors, divorce, legal separation and the like. A division of the Superior Court justice system, the family court was established under a section of the Courts of Justice Act. Family courts vary from state to state and by jurisdiction. They are actually designed to promote the welfare of children and the family. You will probably find that more family courts exist in urban areas. These areas have the ability to fund them and also have a volume of cases that justifies a separate family court, which allows other judges to hear criminal cases. However, in rural areas the same judge may hear all of the cases related to all laws and they may only hear a family law case once a week.