Also known as: affinities · affine · affines · affinitas · relationship by marriage · kinship
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A relationship that one spouse has to the blood relatives of the other spouse. The relationship arises solely from marriage and does not extend to the blood relatives of one spouse and the blood relatives of the other. A donor using terms such as children or issue in a donative instrument is presumed to exclude persons related only by affinity.
Abigail Alvarez executed a will leaving her estate to the children of her brother. After her death her brother's wife and the wife's adult children from a prior marriage claimed shares. The court held that the wife's children were related to Abigail only by affinity and therefore took nothing under the class gift.
Alice Atkins and her husband sought to obtain an abortion at a clinic subject to spousal-notification rules. The rules treated the husband's blood relatives as having interests derived through the marriage. The court recognized that affinity relationships created by the marriage supplied the legal connection asserted by the state.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Amber Alonzo lived with her daughter, grandson, and the daughter's husband in a single-family zone. City officials claimed the son-in-law was not a blood relative and therefore the household violated occupancy limits. The court held that the affinity tie created by the daughter's marriage placed the son-in-law within the protected family unit.
Anika Anand sought death benefits after her stepfather, married to her mother, was killed at work. The insurer argued that Anika was related only by affinity and therefore lacked standing. The court ruled that the marriage created a qualifying affinity relationship for purposes of the compensation statute.
Andrew Avery burned a cross on the lawn of his former wife's brother. Prosecutors charged him under a statute that treated threats against relatives by affinity as equivalent to threats against blood relatives. The court examined whether the affinity relationship supplied the requisite familial connection for the offense.
Alexis Archer agreed to carry a child for a couple using her egg and the intended father's sperm. After birth the intended mother, related to Alexis only by the intended father's prior marriage, asserted parental rights based on affinity. The court rejected the claim because affinity alone did not create legal parentage.
No. The primary meaning of children in a donative instrument excludes persons related only by affinity. Stepchildren and children of a spouse's prior marriage are therefore excluded unless the instrument or surrounding circumstances show a contrary intent.
Affinity is the relationship created by marriage between one spouse and the blood relatives of the other spouse. Consanguinity is the relationship by blood. The two categories are mutually exclusive.
Yes. A marriage can create a familial relationship by law under statutes such as the Uniform Nonparent Custody and Visitation Act. A step-grandparent who married the child's grandparent and lived in the household may satisfy the by-law prong even without adoption or guardianship.
No. There is no affinity between the blood relatives of one spouse and the blood relatives of the other spouse. A husband's brother is not related by affinity to the wife's sister.
A few states impose limited restrictions on marriage between persons related by affinity. Most states focus restrictions on consanguinity and treat affinity relationships as outside the prohibited degrees.
…hearing, before a grand jury, or at a former trial; and to police interrogations. These are the modern practices with closest kinship to the abuses at which the Confrontation Clause was directed. In this case, the State admitted Sylvia's testimonial statement against petitioner, despite the fact that he had no…