Also known as: adfinitas · affinis · affinitas · affinity · relationship by marriage
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person related to another by marriage rather than by blood or adoption. The relationship arises solely from the marital tie and ends if the marriage dissolves without an independent legal basis for continued recognition.
Anthony Arnold executed a will devising his estate to the children of his brother Albert Allen. Albert had one biological son and one stepdaughter Anika Anand whom he never adopted. Upon Albert's death the court determined that Anika took nothing because her relationship to Albert existed only by affinity.
Aisha Ahmed, the adfinis of a Georgia official, sued the state in federal court seeking damages for an alleged constitutional violation. The state moved to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds. The court held that the marital relationship supplied no independent basis to overcome the state's immunity from suit.
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Abigail Alvarez, the adfinis of a clinic director, joined a suit challenging state restrictions on reproductive services. The court analyzed whether the affinity relationship conferred standing to assert the director's claims. The marital tie alone did not create the requisite personal stake in the controversy.
Amber Alonzo, the adfinis of a deceased worker, sought death benefits under state compensation law. The agency denied the claim because the relationship arose only through marriage and the statute limited recovery to blood or adoptive dependents. The reviewing court upheld the denial.
Albert Allen's adfinis petitioned for a stay of execution asserting that the prisoner's mental state required further evaluation. The court examined whether the affinity relationship gave the petitioner authority to raise the claim on the prisoner's behalf. The marital connection provided no automatic procedural right to intervene.
Anika Anand, the adfinis of a defendant charged with public intoxication, testified at trial about the defendant's condition. The prosecution objected that the affinity relationship rendered the testimony inadmissible under spousal privilege rules. The court ruled the testimony competent because the marital tie had already ended by divorce.
No. Primary meaning of class gifts to children excludes persons related only by affinity such as stepchildren unless the instrument or circumstances show contrary intent.
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The relationship ends upon divorce or annulment unless another legal basis such as adoption preserves it. Statutes treating relatives of a former spouse as having predeceased the decedent illustrate this termination.
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Yes. A testator may regard a relative by affinity as a natural object of bounty even though such relatives do not take by intestacy.
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Yes. The statute bars appointment of any person related by affinity within the degree of first cousin to a judge of the same court.
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…exemplar of Griswold liberty but as a rule (whether or not mistaken) of personal autonomy and bodily integrity, with doctrinal affinity to cases recognizing limits on governmental power to mandate medical treatment or to bar its rejection. If so, our cases since Roe accord with Roe 's view that a State's interest in the…