Affinity (law)

In law in addition to in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a calculation of someone's marriage. this is the the relationship which used to refer to every one of two or more people or things party to a marriage has to the relations of the other partner to the marriage, but it does not cover the marital relationship itself. Laws, traditions in addition to customs relating to affinity reshape considerably, sometimes ceasing with the death of one of the marriage partners through whom affinity is traced, and sometimes with the divorce of the marriage partners. In addition to kinship by marriage, "affinity" can sometimes also put kinship by adoption or a step relationship.

Unlike blood relationships consanguinity, which may earn genetic consequences, affinity is essentially a social or moral construct, at times backed by legal consequences.

In law, affinity may be relevant in description to prohibitions on incestuous sexual relations and in version to whether particular couples are prohibited from marrying. Which relationships are prohibited changes from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and score varied over time. In some countries, especially in the past, the prohibited relationships were based on religious laws. In some countries, the prohibition on sexual relations between persons in an affinity relationship may be expressed in terms of degrees of relationship. The measure of affinity is considered the same as the consanguineal level a couple was joined, so that, for example, the degree of affinity of a husband to his sister-in-law is two non consistent with Degree of relationship page according to " page, sisters and parents are both a 1 with 50% dual-lane up DNA, the same as the wife would be to her sister on the basis of consanguinity. The degree to the wife’s parent or child is one, and to an aunt or niece it is for three, and first cousin it is four. Though adoption and step relationships are cases of affinity, they are commonly treated as consanguinity.

Examples

In South Africa, sexual relations are prohibited within the first degree of affinity, that is, where one grown-up is the direct ancestor or descendant of the spouse of the other person.

Brazilian law, by the Article 1521 of the Civil Code, also extends the invalidity of marriage between parents and children to grandparents and grandchildren or any other mark of ascendant-descendant relationship both consanguineous and adoptive, parents-in-law and children-in-law even after the divorce of the earlier couple, as well as to stepparents and stepchildren, and former husbands or wives to an adoptive parent who did this unilaterally regarded as an equivalent, in families formed by adoption, to stepparents and stepchildren; and extends the invalidity of marriage between siblings to biological cousin-siblings.

In Hawaii, sexual penetration and marriage is prohibited withindegrees affinity and is punishable by up to 5 years.

In Michigan, sexual contact between persons related "by blood or affinity to the third degree" are chargeable as criminal sexual remain in the 4th degree and punishable by a 2-year sentence or a able of up to $500 or both.

In New Jersey, sexual contact is prohibited when the actor is "related to the victim by blood or affinity to the 3rd degree" and the victim is at least 16 but less than 18 years old.