Kinship

A familial bond between two people. Essential for intestacy calculation — inheritance rules in every jurisdiction depend on parent-child, sibling, and other familial relationships. Direction: fromPersonId is the parent/elder, toPersonId is the child/younger (for parent-child types). Indian extensions may add parent_child_coparcenary, karta_member. See extensions/hindu-succession/hindu-succession.json

Required fields

idkinshipTypefromPersonIdtoPersonId

Fields

Field	Type	Description
adoptionDate	string	Date of the adoption order, for PARENT_CHILD_ADOPTED kinships
courtOrderRef	string	Court order reference or adoption certificate number
effectiveFrom	string	Date this family relationship became effective (e.g. date of marriage for step-child, date of adoption order)
effectiveTo	[string null]	Date this family relationship ended (e.g. date of divorce). Null means ongoing. Missing means unknown Null means the relationship is ongoing. Missing means the end date is unknown.
fromPersonId	string	The parent, elder, or senior person in this kinship bond (Person.id). For parent-child types, this is always the parent
fromPersonIdDisplay	string	Human-readable display name for the referenced from person
id	string	Unique identifier for this kinship bond within the INHERIT document
kinshipType	enum	The type of familial bond. Use the lineage property to distinguish paternal from maternal lines (critical for Islamic faraid, Hindu succession, matrilineal African systems). Use bloodDegree for whole/half-blood distinction (English, Hong Kong, New Zealand intestacy) parent_child_biological: natural parent-child relationship. parent_child_adopted: legally adopted child — treated as biological for most inheritance purposes. parent_child_step: stepchild — typically no automatic inheritance rights unless adopted. parent_child_foster: foster child — rarely has inheritance rights. parent_child_acknowledged: father acknowledges a child of uncertain parentage — relevant for Islamic inheritance. sibling: full sibling (same two parents). half_sibling: half-sibling sharing one parent — use lineage to specify paternal (same father) or maternal (same mother). Critical for Islamic faraid where paternal half-siblings inherit differently from maternal. step_sibling: child of a parent's spouse from a different relationship. grandparent_grandchild: grandparent to grandchild relationship — use lineage to specify paternal or maternal line. uncle_aunt: parent's sibling to sibling's child. Direction: fromPersonId is the elder (uncle/aunt), toPersonId is the younger (nephew/niece). Specific genders derived from Person.gender. Supports matrilineal African succession (maternal uncle inherits) and Islamic ta'sib hierarchy. cousin: child of a parent's sibling. Use lineage for paternal/maternal line. Required for Islamic ibn al-'amm (asaba ranks 11-12), civil law 4th-degree collateral, Korean 4촌, halachic hierarchy.
legalBasis	enum	The legal basis for this family relationship — determines inheritance rights in jurisdiction-specific calculators biological: natural biological relationship. adoption_order: court-ordered adoption (Western-style, severs biological ties). marriage: relationship established through marriage (e.g. step-parent). civil_partnership: relationship established through civil partnership. treated_as_child: child treated as own without formal adoption. surrogacy_order: parentage established via surrogacy. parental_order: court order transferring parentage. customary_adoption: adoption under customary law where biological family ties are NOT severed — child may inherit from both families. Covers Maori whāngai, African customary adoption, Torres Strait Islander kupai omasker, Japanese futsu yōshi.
legalStatus	enum	The legal recognition status of this familial bond recognised: the kinship is legally established and accepted. contested: the kinship is disputed (e.g. paternity challenge). pending: legal proceedings are underway to establish the kinship. unrecognised: the kinship exists in fact but is not legally recognised.
legitimacy	enum	Legitimacy status. Many modern jurisdictions have abolished this distinction, but it remains critical for Islamic and some customary inheritance systems legitimate: child born within a recognised marriage. illegitimate: child born outside marriage — affects inheritance in Islamic law (illegitimate children do not inherit via faraid), some African customary systems, and pre-1970 English law. legitimated: born illegitimate but subsequently legitimated (e.g. by parents' later marriage). not_applicable: the jurisdiction has abolished the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.
notes	string	Free-text notes about this kinship. Use for context on contested kinships, acknowledgement records, or customary recognition
parentalOrderDetails	object	Details of a parental order (surrogacy), when legalBasis is parental_order
provenance	Provenance	Consolidated provenance metadata — how this entity was created, by whom, and whether a human has verified it
recognisedIn	array[object]	Jurisdictions where this relationship is legally recognised. A same-sex adoption may be recognised in GB-ENG but not in SA
toPersonId	string	The child, younger, or junior person in this kinship bond (Person.id). For parent-child types, this is always the child
toPersonIdDisplay	string	Human-readable display name for the referenced to person

parent_child_biological

parent_child_adopted

parent_child_step

parent_child_foster

parent_child_acknowledged

sibling

half_sibling

step_sibling

grandparent_grandchild

uncle_aunt

cousin

parent_child_biological: natural parent-child relationship. parent_child_adopted: legally adopted child — treated as biological for most inheritance purposes. parent_child_step: stepchild — typically no automatic inheritance rights unless adopted. parent_child_foster: foster child — rarely has inheritance rights. parent_child_acknowledged: father acknowledges a child of uncertain parentage — relevant for Islamic inheritance. sibling: full sibling (same two parents). half_sibling: half-sibling sharing one parent — use lineage to specify paternal (same father) or maternal (same mother). Critical for Islamic faraid where paternal half-siblings inherit differently from maternal. step_sibling: child of a parent's spouse from a different relationship. grandparent_grandchild: grandparent to grandchild relationship — use lineage to specify paternal or maternal line. uncle_aunt: parent's sibling to sibling's child. Direction: fromPersonId is the elder (uncle/aunt), toPersonId is the younger (nephew/niece). Specific genders derived from Person.gender. Supports matrilineal African succession (maternal uncle inherits) and Islamic ta'sib hierarchy. cousin: child of a parent's sibling. Use lineage for paternal/maternal line. Required for Islamic ibn al-'amm (asaba ranks 11-12), civil law 4th-degree collateral, Korean 4촌, halachic hierarchy.

biological

adoption_order

marriage

civil_partnership

treated_as_child

surrogacy_order

parental_order

customary_adoption

biological: natural biological relationship. adoption_order: court-ordered adoption (Western-style, severs biological ties). marriage: relationship established through marriage (e.g. step-parent). civil_partnership: relationship established through civil partnership. treated_as_child: child treated as own without formal adoption. surrogacy_order: parentage established via surrogacy. parental_order: court order transferring parentage. customary_adoption: adoption under customary law where biological family ties are NOT severed — child may inherit from both families. Covers Maori whāngai, African customary adoption, Torres Strait Islander kupai omasker, Japanese futsu yōshi.

recognised

contested

pending

unrecognised

recognised: the kinship is legally established and accepted. contested: the kinship is disputed (e.g. paternity challenge). pending: legal proceedings are underway to establish the kinship. unrecognised: the kinship exists in fact but is not legally recognised.

legitimate

illegitimate

legitimated

not_applicable

legitimate: child born within a recognised marriage. illegitimate: child born outside marriage — affects inheritance in Islamic law (illegitimate children do not inherit via faraid), some African customary systems, and pre-1970 English law. legitimated: born illegitimate but subsequently legitimated (e.g. by parents' later marriage). not_applicable: the jurisdiction has abolished the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.