Genetic examination to establish step-kinship (brother, sister)

Definition of half-siblings

The list of close relatives is given in the Family Code of the Russian Federation . These include:

• spouses;
• parents and their children;
• adoptive parents and adopted children;
• siblings;
• grandfather, grandmother and their grandchildren.

However, a wider circle of people can also be considered a family . For example, who are half-brothers and sisters? A man and woman who marry may have children from a previous relationship. If in their first marriage each of them had girls, then in their next marriage these daughters will be considered half-sisters. If they are boys, then, accordingly, they are stepbrothers. In this case, the age of the children does not matter. Even adults will be considered stepsives.

They do not have common parents and they have no blood relatives. But there are family relationships in which a son is a stepson or a daughter is a stepdaughter for the new parent. This situation arises not on the basis of biological kinship, but on the basis of a legal fact - marriage. Therefore, they will stop after the legal basis – the divorce of the parents – is annulled. In this case, the stepsons and stepdaughters will no longer be relatives to each other.

Attention! The terms “stepchildren” are often used incorrectly. The most popular use of the term is to refer to siblings who are not consanguineously related (if one parent is common).

The term "step" is used only in the absence of consanguinity . If there is a common parent, the brother and sister are called half-blooded (if they have a common father) or half-uterine (if they have a common mother).

New parents, that is, not blood ones, are called step-parents. Stepfather - mother's new husband, stepmother - father's wife.

It can be useful:

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Rights and responsibilities of common-law parents

A stepfather or stepmother does not have any personal rights in relation to stepchildren. Such privileges appear to them only when they adopt a child.

Personal rights include:

• the ability to choose his first or last name;
• the right to communicate and participate in his upbringing;
• choice of educational institution;
• protecting the interests of the child when interacting with any people and organizations.

In addition to personal rights, there are property rights . These include:

• donation or inheritance of property of parents by their children;
• the right to decent maintenance when parents support children until they reach adulthood or until they complete the first stage of higher education (bachelor's degree).

Stepbrothers or sisters

The appearance of half-siblings in a person is based on the entry of one or both of his parents into a new marriage.
In this case, the previous marriage, in which the husband and wife were his natural parents, is subject to dissolution. Thus, the remarriage of a parent to a new spouse is one of the prerequisites for the appearance of a half-brother or sister. The second mandatory condition for the emergence of a relationship of this kind is that the new spouse, the mother or father of this person, has one child or several children. They will be the half-brothers or sisters of the person in question in the event of remarriage. Thus, the presence of children with the new spouse is the second prerequisite for the emergence of a relationship between half-brothers or sisters.

In other words, half-brothers or half-sisters have no real blood ties with each other. Their relationship is based on the marriage of their parents. For example, a girl's mother may marry the father of a young man: in this case, the young people will become half-brother and sister. Similar relationships can develop between children of spouses, regardless of the gender of these children. Moreover, in this case, the age of the children at the time of their parents’ marriage, as well as whether they live with them or separately, does not play a role.

Division of inheritance between half-siblings

The issue of inheritance is very ambiguously settled in relation to stepchildren . Can they inherit the property of their stepparents and each other? If there is a will, it stipulates possible inheritance.

That is, a parent has the right to leave his property to civil children under a will. But there may not be a will. Then the issue of applicants for the inheritance is resolved according to the order of inheritance according to the law :

1. Children, parents and spouse.
2. Brothers and sisters (full and not), grandparents.
3. Uncles and aunts.
4. Great-grandparents.
5. The fifth stage includes the children of the testator's nephews and nieces, great-aunts and grandfathers.
6. Cousins ​​- great-grandchildren, nephews, uncles, aunts.
7. Stepsons, stepdaughters, stepmother, stepfather.

Thus, the law allows stepsons and stepdaughters to inherit from their parents, even if there was no adoption . At the same time, they are not able to inherit from each other.

Misuse of the term

The terms “half-brother” or “half-sister” are often misused.
The most common use is to denote relationships between brothers or sisters based on partial consanguinity. For example, this happens in a situation where they have only one common parent - mother or father. Moreover, accordingly, the fathers or mothers of such children will be different. It should, however, be borne in mind that the correct use of the term “step” refers to situations where there is no blood relationship between brothers and sisters at all. In the case of partial consanguinity, it would be correct to use the term “half-blood” - for example, “half-brothers” or “half-sisters”. It is this terminology, in particular, that is used in the current Russian legislation. In addition, to designate this type of relationship, the expressions “half-blooded” are also used, if we are talking about the presence of a common father, or “half-uterine”, if the children have a common mother.

The principle of succession in inheritance

When transferring property by inheritance, there is a sequence:

1. Husband or wife, children and parents of the deceased.
2. Grandfathers, grandmothers, brothers and sister of the deceased.
3. Aunts and uncles.
4. Great-grandparents.
5. Cousins ​​and sister.
6. Cousin grandchildren.
7. Stepfather or stepmother

The degree of relationship is also determined by the number of births between the heirs and the testator. Children who have a step-by-step relationship are treated like relatives. Adopted children are also considered equal to natural children.

If the deceased did not have any natural children in marriage, then half-siblings followed by adoption are considered.

Note! You can often find families where there is one child in common and one from the first marriage of the husband or wife. Such children are no different in rights from those of full blood. The only difference is the presence of one common parent. When inheriting, they look first at natural children, and then at half-blood children. From the point of view of the law this is true, although they have equal rights.

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Names of relatives

halfpoint collection

Below is an overview of relatives in alphabetical order (for your convenience), starting with the founder of the family in the second degree, that is, with the grandmother:

Grandma, grandma, grandma

– the mother of one of the parents (father or mother), is the wife of the grandfather (if the couple is married). Also called granny, grandmother, or simply ba (abbreviated).

Brother, brother

- any of the parents’ sons in relation to other children in the family who are directly related to him by blood (whether a boy or a girl).

Bro

- the same as my brother.
Its outdated Old Russian meaning is the son of a brother, including a cousin (in other words, a nephew). He is a brother, a brother, a brother, a brother, a brother
and so on.

Bro

- this is the daughter of any of the brothers, regardless of age (that is, a brother’s niece).
She is a son, bro or bro
- outdated words.

Bratanich

- the same as a brother’s son (that is, a nephew).
In an outdated meaning, the son of an older brother. He is a brother, a son
.

Right of inheritance

Inheritance is a legal form of receiving inherited property after the death of a relative.

To obtain it, you must prove the degree of your relationship with the deceased person by providing all the necessary documents.

The rights of inheritance in the first group of people who are required to receive inheritance out of turn are:

1. Parents of the deceased.
2. Husband or wife.
3. Children.

In the second group there are full and half brothers and a sister. Next, we consider how close they are to the deceased. If the mother dies, then the uterine children are the first to receive the property.

Let's celebrate! If the father dies, the first to go should be the half-brother and sister. In the case where the deceased does not have first persons, second persons are considered to receive inheritance.

Examples of inheritance

The process of inheritance involves the transfer of property from one person to another. To transfer an inheritance, a notary must check all applicants for the inheritance in a blood connection with the deceased.

To do this, he needs to obtain the relevant documents, which the relatives must provide.

The very first people who should receive an inheritance out of turn are the parents, wife and children. Accordingly, it is necessary to have the following document:.

• Marriage certificate.
• birth certificate, which indicates that these heirs are the parents.
• passport.
• children's birth certificate.

Note! Second in line are non-full brothers and sisters.

For example:

• A mother who had two children suddenly dies. One is from one father, the second from another. Children are the only heirs. In this case, the property must be divided equally between the two children.
• A father dies, who had one son from his first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage. Since they are half-blooded, most of the inheritance will go to the eldest in the family.
• If a parent dies who had one adopted child from his wife, one from his first marriage and a joint child in his second marriage. The first heir is the child from the first marriage, followed by the child from the second marriage and then the adopted one.
• If, when inheriting property, there is a mother of the deceased and two half-children, then all property is divided by gender.
• If there are several claimants to the inheritance: a mother, two half-children and a wife. Most of the inheritance is divided between the wife and mother.

Blood relations

There are such concepts as consanguinity, which can be direct kinship and indirect kinship. We'll talk about this further.

Blood direct relationship

Blood relatives are people whose relationship to each other is based on a common ancestor from whom they descended, or their connection is based on the fact that they are biologically descended

from each other. Their list includes direct relatives from the first known representative of the genus to the last currently known representative of the genus, who are separated by one and/or several generations:

1. Progenitor and progenitor.
2. Ancestor and an ancestor.
3. Great-great-grandmother and great-great-grandfather.
4. Great-grandmother and great-grandfather.
5. Grandmother and grandfather.
6. Mother and father.
7. Son and daughter.
8. Grandson and granddaughter.
9. Great-grandson and great-granddaughter and so on.

All of the above people are direct blood relatives through one, two or more generations

, as well as relatives in neighboring generations.

Indirect blood relationship

Indirect blood relationship is a relationship between people related through the lines of their father and mother. Let us clarify: they were born as a result of a marriage union, and not in a direct line from one common ancestor. In other words, indirect blood relationship

demonstrates connections between brothers and sisters - first cousins, second cousins, fourth cousins ​​and even step-brothers in one generation, in neighboring generations and across one or more generations.

Alena Ozerova

Did you know that brothers and sisters from different marriages are also considered siblings if they have the same parent? Special terms have been invented for this

, and now siblings in one generation are referred to as full and half-blooded.

Full-born (or blood) are children born from the same parents. This includes all sisters and brothers born in the same marriage (older and younger in relation to each other; twins); as well as children born to the same parents

before marriage (in the old days such children, in relation to those born in marriage, were called married (married brother and married sister).

Half-parents are children born, for example, from different mothers, but from the same father, or vice versa - born from the same mother, but from different fathers. Children born from the same father

and different mothers are called half-blooded; and children born from the same mother and different fathers are called uterine.

How can children from different marriages grow up as friends?

Often during a divorce, parents think about how their children will survive the separation of their two beloved adults. Yes, this is the first serious, but far from the only challenge they will face. Parents can create new families, give birth to new children. Read about children from different marriages and their relationships in the column of journalist and mother of four children Anna Kudryavskaya-Panina.

Photo: depositphotos/Wavebreakmedia

My childhood friend's parents divorced when she was still a baby. Mom remarried and gave birth to another daughter. The girls were completely different, but very friendly, despite the noticeable age difference. And the way the older one took care of the younger one, how she cared for her, really touched me. And nearby there was a completely opposite story, when a friend of mine categorically refused to accept her younger brother, who was born to her dad in a new family.

I do not and never have had any siblings or half-brothers (nowadays, children of one parent from different marriages and children who are not blood related, but who became “relatives” only thanks to mom and dad who married each other, are often called step-brothers). friend). And as a child, I was very interested in families in which children from different marriages grew up. In the vast majority of cases, these were children of the mother from her first marriage. Of even greater interest were the relationships between brothers and sisters living in different families. Everything that was different from the life of our family seemed very unusual to me and I really wanted to know more about it.

It so happened that my mother knew more about this. And then my children found out in full. And in their case - both grandmothers and grandchildren - they grew up (or are growing up) as friends, and not as enemies with their sisters, born in a new or, conversely, previous marriage of their mother or father.

I often hear something like: “What about step-in-laws, even if relatives don’t always grow up as friends: everyone shares something, compares themselves with something.” And this is true, but in the case of children from different marriages, there are much more pitfalls and trigger points.

Most often, coldness in relationships or lack thereof is fueled by resentment or misunderstanding. In the situation “dad left mom for another woman, and then they had a child” - this is a common scenario. The father's children from these marriages often either do not communicate at all, or communication is nominal.

The history of my family suggests that in this case everything depends on the wisdom of two women and the love for the children of one man.

My grandfather left his first family, where two daughters were already growing up, and married my grandmother in the early thirties of the last century. And his first wife was able to overcome her resentment and jealousy so that the children would grow up in love for their father and with his care - there was a time when the eldest daughter lived for more than a year in my grandmother’s family, where she was treated like family. Both the grandfather’s eldest daughters and his children from his new marriage became truly family and close friends. My grandfather’s aunts have been dead for a long time, my mother and her siblings are already very elderly people, and we still maintain warm relations with that branch of our family.

Photo: depositphotos/Y-Boychenko

Life story: “My grandmother was a widow who married my grandfather, also a widower. After the war there were many such families. The grandmother had three, the grandfather had four, they lived very friendly, the grandfather’s youngest daughters, seven and four years old, immediately began to call their grandmother “mother.” To this day, they all communicate very closely, live, see each other and call each other often, in general they behave like children from the same parents. I myself found out that my grandfather was not my own, at the age of 15, I was very surprised, I thought that I looked like him.”

Relationships between stepbrothers and sisters are influenced by both age differences and the degree of warmth of relationships with parents. If there is no closeness with your father or mother, if there are no points of contact with your brother or sister, you cannot build a relationship.

Life story: “My dad had a daughter from his third marriage when I was 27 years old. I remember I also laughed that the girl would grow up and tell me that she had a sister - an old wallet. I saw my sister only twice, when I came to visit my dad. She was three years old and then 11 years old. That's all our acquaintance. We did not have and do not have any relationship. I can't even find her email address. She didn’t give me her phone number, I didn’t insist. That is, we are not friends, not enemies, just essentially no one, strangers. My brother lives with her in the same city and could have communicated, but when she was born, he generally perceived both his sister and my father’s new wife as an obstacle: they bought an apartment together, and my father refused to register his brother with him because his wife was against it. When my sister was born, my brother came to my dad for some reason, saw his sister, and the reaction was: “What kind of child is this?”

And jealousy and resentment are the main opponents of stepbrothers and sisters. Of course, they also disturb their relatives. But the stepsisters are in worse trouble. And some manage to cope with these monsters and not release them into the wild. And for others, not so much.

Life story: “My older sister and I are from different fathers. I always wanted to be closer to her, but she often showed open hostility towards us - two younger sisters, she told my mother in front of us that after she got married and gave birth to us, she abandoned her. My little sister has been gone for almost 18 years, and she never remembers her, doesn’t go to the cemetery to visit her... Why such an attitude is most likely jealousy. Despite the fact that in childhood she was spoiled more than us.”

Life story: “My classmate friend has a half-sister. The difference is 10 years. She never talked about it, we didn’t realize it for a long time, sister and sister. We grew up like all children, we quarreled and made up, the younger one spoiled the older one’s notebooks. They have grown up and are very friendly now. Their parents are no longer there; in fact, they are sisters.”

Photo: depositphotos/ArturVerkhovetskiy

My husband and I divorced when our son and daughter were eight and six years old. Our new families did not form immediately. Then the father of my children had a daughter, and a little later another one. And then two little girls appeared in my new family, one after another. Now my son has five (!!!) younger sisters. One is from my mother, two from my father and two from my mother. In fact, only one sister grew up next to him - his own. But this absolutely does not prevent him from treating others touchingly and tenderly. My eldest daughter dotes on my younger ones. And I remember how tense and anxious she was when I informed her about their imminent appearance, although, it would seem, she was already an adult girl. Probably, there were many different things in this anxiety: fears for my health (I was already over 40), and worry about how the established family life would change, and the whole life of the family, and, perhaps, jealousy (after all, my mother’s attention was almost completely concentrates on the baby). But this tension was replaced by all-consuming love and touching care. This morning, leaving for work, my adult daughter said to me: “I can’t even imagine my life without all this,” and she waved her hand around the kitchen, in which the eldest of the youngest was having breakfast while listening to audio fairy tales, and the youngest was tyrannizing a plush caterpillar. And tomorrow my eldest daughter is flying more than three thousand kilometers away for her birthday to visit another of her sisters - the youngest daughter of my first husband. And we even chose a gift for her together.

Life story: “Everyone in my family is step-children. Both grandmothers and grandfathers got married at least three times, on my mother’s and father’s sides. They hid my half-brother and sister from me until I accidentally saw a girl with my rare last name in the orthodontist’s clinic for children. I didn’t have any negative reactions; I knew for a long time that mom and dad were wonderful, but they didn’t live well together. I eventually became friends with my half-brother and sister and am friends with them like my own brother. My half-sister, by the way, has a wonderful relationship with my eldest daughter. I love everyone, I don’t blame or condemn anyone. I’m very pleased that I have them all.”

It was important to me that my children and their half-sisters felt a sense of kinship and were close. I really think this is a great value. I don’t know if I’m right, but I still think that I didn’t do anything special for this. Yes, I probably didn’t do a lot: I didn’t compare the attitude of my ex-husband towards the children from me and from his second wife, in general, no matter what I thought, no matter how I treated, no matter what stood between me and him, I never told the children or in front of them about their father in a negative way. And this notorious: “Mom and dad will no longer be together, but they will always love you,” which was said many times to older children during and after the divorce, probably also played a role. They had no reason to doubt our love, which means there were fewer reasons for jealousy.

Photo: depositphotos/aletia

When my youngest girls were born, and of course, like any young mother, I enthusiastically and a lot told my elders about the successes and simply sweet moments in the lives of the younger ones, I certainly remembered and told them how wonderful and funny they were at that age. And she emphasized how similar they all are, although very different.

In order for children to have interest and love for each other, they need to be nourished by parental interest and love. And a careful attitude towards building family ties with half-brothers and sisters.

Life story: “My classmate in youth and great love got married. From youth and love a daughter was born. But something went wrong with the young dad’s love, and they divorced when their daughter was not even a year old. Since youth was still available, my friend quickly found the man of her dreams and married him. So, when the girl was 14, her half-brother was born. Love happened at first sight, nothing influenced it, for the boy she is also the light in the window. Since he is not very old yet, it is difficult to say whether his parents did everything right. They simply live and love their children. No matter who or whose. The moral is that if children are equally valuable to both spouses, then nothing else needs to be done. It will be organic for them to consider only half of their relatives as their own.”

Kudryavskaya-Panina Anna

Types of kinship relationships

The status of brothers and sisters is given to persons who are united by the presence of common relatives. Moreover, depending on their biological origin, this relationship is divided into three types officially approved by law: full-blooded, half-blooded, half-bred. Thus, the connection between brothers and sisters can be determined by both genetic factors (inherent in the first two types) and social ones (as a result of the conclusion of various types of unions). Most often, people know such concepts as “step” and “blood”, but not everyone knows what “half brothers and sisters” means. Let's look further at what this means.

Husband and wife in tax law

The Family Code and the Tax Code do not classify spouses as close relatives, which is quite logical, since they are not related by blood, which is the main criterion for establishing the degree of relationship in marriage. Therefore, husband and wife are related persons and members of the family, just like children and parents. Consequently, when concluding transactions, they bear similar rights and obligations that are vested in close relatives.

One more nuance that needs to be taken into account. The Tax Code does not recognize relationships as family relationships, despite people living together and running a common household who have not officially registered their relationship. They are also not considered family members.

If we talk about former spouses who have filed an official divorce, the situation is considered on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a husband gives his wife an expensive gift and they divorce that same year, the ex-spouse does not have to pay tax. In turn, the woman must provide evidence that she was legally married when receiving the gift. If the gift was given after the divorce, it is taxed like any other gift given by a stranger.

What is the difference between stepfamily members and stepfamily members?

People often confuse the terms “consolidated” and “inferior”, despite the fact that the difference between them is noticeable. As mentioned earlier, half-siblings are individuals who share the same parent. For example, a woman who had a daughter from her first marriage remarried and gave birth to another daughter from her new husband. In this case, girls who have the same mother and different biological fathers will be considered half-sisters to each other. If in such a marriage, where the spouses already have children from previous relationships, a common baby is born, he will also have the status of half-parent in relation to everyone else.

The concept of step-kinship implies the complete absence of a genetic connection. In this case, a family relationship is formed as a result of civil legal relations, such as marriage.

An example would be a situation where a woman who gave birth to a son from her previous husband enters into a new marital relationship with a man with children. Then, according to the law, the woman's son will be a stepbrother for the man's children.