The question is very broad, but in general I believe a quick answer to
be that the colonies and later, the states, through assemblies,
adopted the common law of England. Later statutes passed during the
Revolutionary period changed certain aspects of law, taxation, for
example, but family law and property law (excluding the laws relating
to inheritance, or descent and distribution) based on English common
law remained, except eventually for the state of Louisiana after its
admission to the Union. Family law and the basic law of inheritance
has been left to the states. Under the U. S. Constitution, there are
certain limitations on the authority of the states to legislate in
these areas, and the full faith and credit clause is an example of the
regulation of the application of the laws of the states.

Marilyn Symonds

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