Relationships¶
A relationship connects two people in your family history. Without relationships, people are just isolated names — with relationships, a tree emerges.
PastPaths handles three types of relationships: parent–child, partner, and sibling. Based on the direct relationships you register, indirect kinship (e.g. grandfather, cousin, brother-in-law) is calculated automatically in the family tree.
Relationship types¶
Parent–child¶
Registered as a directed link from parent to child. A person can have several parents of different types:
- Biological — the biological parent
- Adoptive — adoptive parent
- Foster — foster parent
- Step-parent — step-parent
Direction matters
It's always the parent that points to the child — not the other way around. If you accidentally reverse it, PastPaths will warn about an impossible age order.
Partner¶
Registered as a mutual relationship. The subtypes are:
- Married
- Cohabiting / registered partner
- Engaged
- Relationship — for relationships without formal status
You can specify a start date (wedding date, move-in date, etc.) and an end date (divorce, death of one partner). Leaving the end date blank means the relationship is treated as ongoing.
Sibling¶
Registered mutually — adding a sibling relationship automatically creates the link in both directions. The subtypes are:
- Full — sharing both parents
- Half — sharing one parent
- Step — sharing no biological parents
Adding a relationship¶
- Go to the person's page.
- Click "+ Add relationship" in the relationships section.
- Choose the relationship type and subtype.
- Search for the other person.
- Fill in dates if known.
- Click Save.
Partner and sibling relationships are saved twice
For partner and sibling relationships, an entry is automatically created in each direction. You only need to register the relationship once.
Edit and delete¶
Click an existing relationship to edit the dates or notes. Choose Delete to remove it.
Deleting partner and sibling relationships
Deleting a partner or sibling relationship automatically removes both directions.
Validation¶
PastPaths checks every relationship when you save. The checks are divided into three levels:
Errors — block saving¶
These must be resolved before you can save:
- Circular reference — e.g. A is a parent of B, who is a parent of A (an impossible ancestral line)
- Mutual parenthood — A is already a child of B; B cannot then also be a child of A
- Parent–child incest — a registered parent–child link prevents the same pair from being registered as partners
Warnings — require confirmation¶
Possible but unlikely situations. You can choose to save anyway by confirming:
| Situation | Warning |
|---|---|
| The child is older than (or the same age as) the parent | Impossible age order |
| The parent was under 13 at the child's birth | Critical — check the dates |
| The parent was 13–15 at the child's birth | Unusually young |
| The parent was older than 60 (woman) / 70 (man) at the child's birth | Unusually old |
| The child was born more than 10 months after the parent's death | Check the dates |
| More than 2 biological parents registered | Check the subtype |
| More than 25 years' age difference between partners | Large age difference |
| Under 16 at the time of marriage | Young at marriage |
| Marriage dated before either partner's birth | Check the dates |
| Overlapping partnership periods | Possible bigamy or incorrect dating |
| Sibling relationship between partners | Possible inbreeding or data error |
| More than 30 years' age difference for siblings | Unusual age difference |
Information — shown without restriction¶
Neutral notes that don't require action:
- Posthumous child (born < 10 months after the parent's death) — biologically possible
- Twins (same or nearly the same date of birth)
- Sibling type doesn't match the registered parents (e.g. marked as full siblings but sharing only one parent)
Skip validation during import
During GEDCOM import and similar, you can allow validation to be skipped so historical data with unusual circumstances isn't blocked. See Import data.
Check all relationships¶
Under Settings → Data validation (), you can run a combined review of all relationships in your family history. The result shows how many relationships have errors or warnings, with direct links to the people involved.
Indirect kinship¶
PastPaths automatically calculates indirect relationships — grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousin, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and more — based on the direct parent–child and partner relationships you've entered. These are shown in the family tree but aren't stored as separate relationships in the database.
Planned relationship types
Future versions plan to add support for additional direct relationship types: grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin, and godparent.