Relationship

Required fields

idtypepartners

Fields

Field	Type	Description
currentStatus	enum	The current status of the relationship. A convenience denormalisation — consumers should derive from the events array when available ACTIVE: relationship is current and subsisting. SEPARATED_INFORMAL: partners are separated without legal proceedings. SEPARATED_LEGAL: legally separated by court order or deed. DIVORCED: marriage has been dissolved by divorce. ANNULLED: marriage has been annulled (void or voidable). DISSOLVED: civil partnership has been dissolved. WIDOWED: one partner has died. VOID: marriage declared void ab initio — never legally existed. PUTATIVE: marriage is void but at least one party believed it was valid — may confer limited inheritance rights in some jurisdictions. Convenience denormalisation. The authoritative status SHOULD be derived from the most recent event in the events array. Producers MUST keep this consistent with the event timeline. Consumers SHOULD derive from events when events are present.
events	array[Relationship event]	Chronological events determining relationship status. The authoritative status should be derived from the most recent event
financialInstruments	array[Financial instrument]	Financial instruments associated with this relationship — mahr, ketubah, lobola, prenuptial agreements, etc
id	string	Unique identifier for this relationship within the INHERIT document
jurisdiction	Jurisdiction	Primary jurisdiction where this relationship was formed or registered
jurisdictionalRecognition	array[Jurisdictional recognition]	How other jurisdictions recognise (or do not recognise) this relationship. Essential for cross-border estates
notes	string	Free-text notes about this relationship
partners	array[Partner]	The people in this relationship. Minimum 2, no structural upper limit — supports polygamous marriages valid in their jurisdiction
propertyRegime	enum	The marital property regime governing this relationship. Determines which assets the testator may freely dispose of community_of_property: all assets jointly owned from marriage (South Africa default). separation_of_property: each partner owns what they acquire (England and Wales, Japan). community_of_acquests: assets acquired during marriage are joint, pre-marital assets remain separate (France default). deferred_community: assets are separate during marriage but shared on dissolution (Scandinavia, Germany). separate_as_modified: separate property modified by prenuptial agreement. islamic_dower: property is separate; wife has deferred mahr claim. us_community_property: 50/50 community property (CA, TX, AZ, WA, NV, NM, LA, ID, WI). us_community_with_survivorship: community property with right of survivorship (TX, AK, AZ, NV, WI). us_quasi_community: California-specific — property acquired elsewhere treated as community on death. hindu_separate: Hindu law — property is separate, but coparcenary property has survivorship rules.
provenance	Provenance	Consolidated provenance metadata — how this entity was created, by whom, and whether a human has verified it
religiousSubtype	string	The specific religious marriage form, when the type is MARRIAGE_RELIGIOUS Legal relationship categories recognised by specific jurisdictions, not religious labels. nikah: Islamic marriage contract — a legally binding civil contract in 50+ jurisdictions (all OIC member states, plus recognised for succession purposes in UK, US, Canada, Australia, Singapore). kiddushin: Jewish marriage — legally binding in Israel; recognised as a valid marriage for succession in UK/US/Canada where properly registered. hindu_vivah: Hindu marriage — legally binding under Hindu Marriage Act 1955 (India), recognised in UK/Singapore/Malaysia. anand_karaj: Sikh marriage — legally binding under Anand Marriage Act 1909 (India), recognised in UK/Canada. Only meaningful when type is MARRIAGE_RELIGIOUS.
selfDeclaredType	string	How the parties themselves describe this relationship, which may differ from the legal classification
type	enum	The legal form of the relationship marriage_civil: marriage registered with the state. marriage_religious: marriage conducted under religious law (use religiousSubtype for specifics). marriage_customary: marriage valid under customary law (e.g. African customary marriage). marriage_common_law: common-law marriage recognised by the jurisdiction (not all do). civil_partnership: civil partnership (UK, Germany pre-2017, etc.). civil_union: civil union (US states, France PACS, etc.). domestic_partnership: domestic partnership registration. de_facto: de facto or common-law relationship recognised for succession (Australia, NZ). cohabitation: cohabitation without legal recognition — may still affect claims in some jurisdictions. engagement: formal engagement or betrothal — relevant for lobola and mahr negotiations. Religious subtypes (nikah, kiddushin, hindu_vivah) go in religiousSubtype. marriage_customary covers customary unions.

active

separated_informal

separated_legal

divorced

annulled

dissolved

widowed

void

putative

ACTIVE: relationship is current and subsisting. SEPARATED_INFORMAL: partners are separated without legal proceedings. SEPARATED_LEGAL: legally separated by court order or deed. DIVORCED: marriage has been dissolved by divorce. ANNULLED: marriage has been annulled (void or voidable). DISSOLVED: civil partnership has been dissolved. WIDOWED: one partner has died. VOID: marriage declared void ab initio — never legally existed. PUTATIVE: marriage is void but at least one party believed it was valid — may confer limited inheritance rights in some jurisdictions. Convenience denormalisation. The authoritative status SHOULD be derived from the most recent event in the events array. Producers MUST keep this consistent with the event timeline. Consumers SHOULD derive from events when events are present.

community_of_property

separation_of_property

community_of_acquests

deferred_community

separate_as_modified

islamic_dower

us_community_property

us_community_with_survivorship

us_quasi_community

hindu_separate

community_of_property: all assets jointly owned from marriage (South Africa default). separation_of_property: each partner owns what they acquire (England and Wales, Japan). community_of_acquests: assets acquired during marriage are joint, pre-marital assets remain separate (France default). deferred_community: assets are separate during marriage but shared on dissolution (Scandinavia, Germany). separate_as_modified: separate property modified by prenuptial agreement. islamic_dower: property is separate; wife has deferred mahr claim. us_community_property: 50/50 community property (CA, TX, AZ, WA, NV, NM, LA, ID, WI). us_community_with_survivorship: community property with right of survivorship (TX, AK, AZ, NV, WI). us_quasi_community: California-specific — property acquired elsewhere treated as community on death. hindu_separate: Hindu law — property is separate, but coparcenary property has survivorship rules.

marriage_civil

marriage_religious

marriage_customary

marriage_common_law

civil_partnership

civil_union

domestic_partnership

de_facto

cohabitation

engagement

marriage_civil: marriage registered with the state. marriage_religious: marriage conducted under religious law (use religiousSubtype for specifics). marriage_customary: marriage valid under customary law (e.g. African customary marriage). marriage_common_law: common-law marriage recognised by the jurisdiction (not all do). civil_partnership: civil partnership (UK, Germany pre-2017, etc.). civil_union: civil union (US states, France PACS, etc.). domestic_partnership: domestic partnership registration. de_facto: de facto or common-law relationship recognised for succession (Australia, NZ). cohabitation: cohabitation without legal recognition — may still affect claims in some jurisdictions. engagement: formal engagement or betrothal — relevant for lobola and mahr negotiations. Religious subtypes (nikah, kiddushin, hindu_vivah) go in religiousSubtype. marriage_customary covers customary unions.