It is known that any relationship exists in two forms:
consanguinity (in ascending and descending lines). It is a direct relationship: son, father, grandfather, grandson, great-grandson, great-grandfather, and so on.
lateral kinship (it can also be ascending or descending).
Both blood and collateral relationships are calculated by degrees. The birth of one person from another constitutes a degree. In blood (homogeneous) relationships, degrees are counted along the lines: ascending, descending and lateral.
The ascending line goes from a given person to father, grandfather, great-grandfather and higher.
Four lines of kinship ascending from me to my great-grandfather shows that I am related to him in the fourth degree.
The descending line goes from a given person to a son, grandson, great-grandson and beyond. Each such line constitutes a degree: thus, my great-grandson is related to me in the third degree.
There are also lateral lines in consanguinity. Lateral (heterogeneous) kinship, or property, can be: two-relative - it includes the relatives of the given person and the relatives of his wife. Three-parent - consists of the relatives of a given person and the relatives of his brother’s wife. Husband and wife are one flesh, and, as it were, one person (degree).
Therefore, the wife’s father (father-in-law) in relation to the husband is the same as his own father. Also, the husband's father (father-in-law) is the same in relation to his wife as her own father.
Examples of two-parent and three-parent relationship (See diagram No. 6).
Example explanations
My wife and I are two lines, count them as one, and then, in addition to these two lines, count all the lines (degrees) from these two. The number of ascending and descending lines taken together constitute the degree of relationship. So:
Example 1- four lines. Consequently, my brother is related to my wife’s sister in the fourth degree of kinship.
Example 2- six lines. Consequently, my own wife’s aunt is related to her own niece in the sixth degree.
Example 3- six lines. Consequently, my own nephew is related to my wife’s niece in the sixth degree.
Example 4- seven lines. Consequently, my cousin is related to my wife’s niece in the seventh degree.
Note: Marriages within kinship Orthodox Church prohibited up to the sixth degree inclusive, as this led to the degeneration of the race.
In Russian there is an additive " great”, "cousin" made it possible to express any relationship of blood relationship.
Currently, the Russian kinship system covers 16 terms of “living” properties:
· father-in-law (husband's father);
mother-in-law (husband's mother);
· father-in-law (wife's father);
· mother-in-law (wife's mother);
· son-in-law (daughter’s husband, sister’s husband);
· daughter-in-law (son’s wife, if “I” is a man);
· daughter-in-law (son’s wife, if “I” is a woman, brother’s wife, husband’s brother’s wife);
· brother-in-law (husband's brother);
· sister-in-law (husband's sister);
· brother-in-law (wife's brother);
· sister-in-law (wife's sister);
· brother-in-law (wife's sister's husband);
· matchmaker (father of a daughter’s husband or son’s wife;
· matchmaker (mother of a daughter’s husband or son’s wife).
What are the main differences between this crown relationship system? Not every relationship has its own appropriate term here. The wife's brother is a brother-in-law, but there is no longer a special term for a brother-in-law's son.
Some terms—namely, son-in-law and daughter-in-law—are ambiguous. This system is somewhat asymmetrical: a sister-in-law's husband is a brother-in-law, a brother-in-law's wife is a daughter-in-law; but the brother-in-law’s wife and sister-in-law’s husband are not named in any way. In this system of family ties there is no regularity, “algebraicity”, which is observed in terms of the consanguineous system, where kinship relations are expressed using the prefixes “great” and “counsel”.
In order to more fully present the picture of the Russian kinship system, it is necessary to mention one more subsystem of current terms associated with remarriage:
· stepfather (mother’s new husband);
· stepmother (husband’s new wife);
· stepson (son of a husband or wife from a previous marriage);
· stepdaughter (daughter of a wife or husband from a previous marriage);
· half-brother (my father’s son from another mother);
· half-sister (my father’s daughter from another mother);
· half-brother (my mother’s son from another father);
· half-sister (my mother’s daughter from another father);
· half-brother (son of a stepmother or stepfather);
· half-sister (daughter of stepmother or stepfather)
Of this system of kinship relations, the third and fourth arise as a result of “my” remarriage, the rest as a result of the remarriage of my parents.
Exactly at Civil Code of the Russian Federation The order of inheritance is very clearly regulated.
Moreover, the next line of heirs cannot enter into inheritance rights if at least one relative from the previous line can receive the inheritance. That is, if the testator has no one left, but only one son, then he will be the only heir.
So, the queues for accepting an inheritance are:
- First line of heirs – spouse, children and parents of the deceased. These include children whom the deceased adopted or adopted, and the adoptive parents themselves also belong to the first line of inheritance. Moreover, an adopted child cannot become the heir of his biological parents. This can only happen by court order.
It happens that the testator still has unborn children. In this case, all property will be divided only after his birth. If the heirs of the first line are not alive or they are recognized as unworthy, then their legal successors, that is, the grandchildren of the deceased, can receive the inheritance.
- Second line of heirs – these are sisters, brothers, relatives and steps (on mother or father), grandparents. If, during the opening of the inheritance, the deceased has no second-line relatives, then their children, that is, the nephews of the deceased, can become their successors.
- Third line of heirs – these are the sisters and brothers of the deceased’s parents, aunts, uncles, both relatives and step-brothers. And as in previous lines, if there is no one left alive, then their children, that is, cousins of the deceased, can accept the inheritance.
- 4th line – great-grandparents
- 5th line – first cousins or grandchildren,
- 6th line – great-great-grandchildren and nephews, great aunts and uncles
- 7th line – stepsons and stepdaughters who are not relatives of the deceased and he did not adopt them, as well as stepfathers and stepmothers.
- And the last one, 8 line line of inheritance – these are dependents who lived with the deceased and were not his relatives, and only if they lived with the deceased for at least a year.
Today, in our everyday life, people are accustomed to consider as their relatives everyone who lives together under one roof, relatives living together and everyone whom fate encounters, again due to family relationships.
For example, a mother-in-law who lives with her daughter-in-law considers her the closest person. After all, she is the wife of her beloved son, looks after her, cares for her. However, this is far from true: those who have blood relations are considered relatives. For example, brothers and sisters, grandparents, mom and dad. Therefore, it is necessary to know your ancestry in the ascending line.
This will help you understand the degree of relationship well, determine who is close and who is distant relatives, and who is just a family member. These are completely different concepts, but sometimes it is necessary to know it. This may be useful, for example, if a controversial situation arises regarding the acceptance of an inheritance (with or without a will).
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Close relatives according to the Family Code of the Russian Federation
Close relatives, according to the UK, are a certain circle of persons specified by law. This concept is explained very well by Art. No. 14 SK, where all degrees of relationship are described in great detail: blood and innate.
According to the contents of this document, this category includes:
- Members of the same family that are related to each other by a direct ascending line(kinship going from a person to his distant ancestors) or descending (coming directly from his ancestors). According to this point of view, the closest relationship is considered to be the blood relationship between parents and their children, grandparents and grandchildren. It’s a pity that people have a small number of such relatives: unfortunately, there aren’t many long-lived people now, but I’d really like to talk to my great-grandmother.
- Siblings and brothers.
According to the law, they are recognized as close blood persons. The legislator does not make a distinction between full brothers and sisters (those who have both parents in common) and not full brothers and sisters (children who have only one parent, mother or father, in common).
Status Features
The most important restriction for close relatives is a categorical ban on entering into marriage.
In addition, some special features are provided for them (if you go beyond the borders of the UK), other legislation:
- They have the ability to send each other Money transfers in foreign currency, without conversion into rubles;
- When initiating a criminal case or trial, they have every right not to testify against their relatives (in this case, they are also considered to be their spouse, and the differences between full and half brothers/sisters are not considered);
- When making transactions with property in the form of donation or inheritance, close relatives do not pay the 13% tax required by law;
- In the event of death, another person related to him has the right to receive leave at his own expense related to the funeral. In this case, in almost all enterprises, according to the Collective Agreement, a certain amount is paid in connection with the loss of a close blood relative;
- When entering into an inheritance, the payment of state duty for close relatives is significantly (2 times) reduced. For other relatives, it is much higher.
Who is considered a family member, but not a relative
Quite often people confuse the concept of close and blood relatives and family members. However, from a legal point of view, these people are completely different.
According to the Housing Code, family members are everyone who lives in the same living space. Sometimes this is not relatives in a direct line, which is usually considered close - cousins, mother-in-law, father-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law can live there.
From this we can conclude that family members can be called everyone who lives together in the same apartment, has no blood relationship, just relatives on the side of husband or wife, stepsons and stepdaughters.
Legal status of spouses
Legal spouses are the closest people to each other, whose relationships are regulated by law. However, here lies the most important nuance, which, at first glance, is incomprehensible to the ordinary person.
According to the interpretation of the IC, a husband and wife cannot be considered close relatives. The relationship between spouses cannot be considered related; they are interpreted as inherent.
Marriage relations are, in a way, an agreement between two people to create a family and run a joint household and, therefore, family relationships between them and their relatives cannot be blood, but only inherent.
Family unions formalized in the form of a marriage contract are related by contractual relations, and not by kinship.
Citizens who are inherently related to each other:
- Spouses (husband and wife);
- Parents of both spouses (father-in-law and mother-in-law, father-in-law and mother-in-law);
- Son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc.
The listed persons are family members in relation to each other. These also include others, such as stepmother, stepfather, children born in civil marriage and others.
Spouses who have lived happily ever after, at the end of their days, often have to think about making a will.
When writing this document, if it is indicated that everything should go to the blood relatives, be sure to emphasize what exactly should go to the legal spouse. After all, without this point, they may be left with nothing, because... are not blood relatives.
Another interesting point is that if the marriage relationship breaks down, all close relatives of the spouses will be considered former and will not have the right to claim a share of the inheritance.
Also, do not forget that since January 2016, close relatives are exempt from taxation of goods transferred by will or inheritance. If family relations are not proven, then the heirs will have to pay a tax in the amount of 13% of the value of the property, and this, today, is an unaffordable amount for many.
Kinship and property.
Kinship- This is a blood connection between persons descended from one another or from a common ancestor.
Relatives are recognized as:
- grandfather (grandmother);
- father mother);
- son daughter);
- grandson (granddaughter);
- brothers;
- sisters;
- uncles;
- aunts;
- nephews;
- nieces, etc.
Lines of kinship are divided into the following types:
- Direct line of relationship- that is, it is based on the origin of one person from another. Direct communication can be descending, from ancestors to descendants (grandfather, father, son, grandson) and ascending, from descendants to ancestors (granddaughter, daughter, mother, grandmother).
- Lateral line of descent- that is, kinship is based on the descent of individuals from a common ancestor (siblings - from common parents).
Siblings are divided into:
- Full-blooded, which are recognized as siblings descended from common parents,
- Half-blooded, which are recognized as siblings who have only one common parent - either a common father, or a common mother. Half-siblings who have a common father are called half-blooded having a common mother - uterine. A half-kinship relationship gives rise to the same legal consequences as a full-blood relationship (for example, inheritance after the death of a half-brother or sister).
One should distinguish half-siblings from half-siblings. Half-brothers and sisters are children belonging to the same family who have neither a common mother nor a common father, i.e. children of each spouse. One of the spouses is the father (mother) for the children, and the other is the stepfather (stepmother) and vice versa. Half-siblings are not related to each other.
For the emergence of family legal relations, the law attaches decisive importance to the proximity of kinship, determined by the degree of kinship.
Relation degree- this is the number of births connecting two related persons, i.e. the number of births required for a relationship to arise between two persons. When calculating the number of births of a direct line of kinship, the birth of an ancestor is not taken into account, and when calculating the number of births of a lateral line of kinship, the birth of a common ancestor is not taken into account. For example, father and son are in the first degree of direct relationship, although two births are necessary for a relationship to arise between them: the birth of the father and the birth of the son (the birth of the father is not taken into account). Grandmother and granddaughter are related in the second degree of direct relationship, siblings in the second degree collateral relationship, aunt and nephew - in the third, and cousins - in the fourth degree of collateral relationship.
In family law relationship is considered close in a straight line of the first and second degree (parents - children; grandfather, grandmother - grandchildren) and in a lateral line - second (siblings). In family law, only “close kinship” has legal significance, for example, close relatives are prohibited from marrying each other.
Property. According to Article 61 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Marriage and Family, in the Republic of Belarus, relations between a spouse and close relatives of the other spouse are considered relations of property . For example, property relationships arise between one of the spouses and close relatives of the other spouse - parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents. As a general rule, property relations in family law have no legal significance.
Husband and wife are usually not related. They are married, on the basis of which a special legal relationship arises - matrimony .
