Consent and freedom of will in family law

The author analyzes the peculiarities of implementation of the principle of free will in family law, notes that in many cases the legislation considers the will and expression of will of one of the participants only as a precondition for the emergence, change or termination of family legal relations, based on the need to obtain consent from their other participant as a condition for occurrence of legally significant consequences. The necessity to distinguish consents that are required for the occurrence of legally significant consequences, depending on the grounds for obtaining the relevant consent, is substantiated. The conclusion is made that the establishment by the legislation of certain requirements for realization of the will of participants of family relations and dependence of legal consequences of expression of will of one participant on consent of other participant cannot be considered as restriction of freedom of will of participants of such relations. It is proved that the principle of freedom of will in family law is realized as in the possibility of free unilateral expression of will in cases where the consequences of such expression of will do not affect the rights and legitimate interests of others, and in the possibility of providing at its discretion consent as a necessary condition for the occurrence of significant legal consequences in cases where the legislation links the onset of such consequences with the presence of consent of participants in family relations.