Navigating the Labyrinth of Kinship Degrees

In the world of family bonds, one sometimes has to navigate through labyrinths of complex interconnections, where blood ties intersect with marital relationships. To accurately determine the degree of kinship between individuals, specialists use a method in which each line of relation is considered separately: for instance, if one relative is connected to the husband at the second degree and another to the wife at the second degree, the resulting degree is determined as the sum of these values—that is, the fourth degree. At the same time, the marital tie itself does not add to the calculation; only the lines leading to the common ancestor are taken into account. This approach, which allows the degrees from both sides to be “added” together, is particularly valuable in cases of cross-linking, where the lines differ in complexity. As a result, if one branch has a degree of 2 and the other a degree of 3, a five-degree kinship is formed. This method not only helps structure family ties, but also preserves objectivity when analyzing even the most tangled “cross” relationships.

How is the degree of kinship determined in complex cases when relationships involve cross-links and kinship degrees?

In complex cases where kinship is established through the intertwining of blood and marital ties, the degree of kinship is determined by “adding” the degrees along each of the lines connecting the two individuals. This means that if each person is connected to their spouse through a relative of a certain degree (for example, one relative is in the 2nd degree of kinship with the husband and another is in the 2nd degree with the wife), then the degree of kinship between them is determined by the sum of these degrees—in this example, resulting in the 4th degree of relation.

In the absence of directly established kinship ties between spouses, the marital connection itself is not counted as a degree of kinship; only the genealogical lines that lead to the progenitor are considered. Thus, to determine the closeness between relatives connected through marriage (i.e., in cases of cross-links), it is necessary to trace both lines of kinship sequentially and add the corresponding numbers of generations or degrees. For instance, if one line has a kinship degree of 2 and the other a degree of 3, the final degree of relation will be the sum—that is, the 5th degree.

Supporting citation(s):
"To determine the closeness between one of the blood relatives of the husband and one of the blood relatives of the wife, the degree of kinship of the first person in relation to the husband is added to the degree of kinship of the second person in relation to the wife; the sum indicates the degree of relation between these relatives of both spouses." (source: 276_1378.txt)

"To determine the degree of relation, both genealogical lines are added together, while between the husband and wife, who connect them, there is no degree. Thus, the mother-in-law and son-in-law are in the 1st degree of relation, the daughter-in-law and brother-in-law in the 2nd, and the husband’s nephew and the wife’s niece in the 6th degree of relation..." (source: 14_66.txt)

This scheme allows for both direct genealogical lines (based on blood ties) and lateral or heterogeneous kinship connections arising through marriage to be taken into account, which is particularly important when determining the degree of kinship in often convoluted cases of cross-links.