Have you ever wondered about the difference between a first and second cousin? Well, many have, and even the most experienced do not always get it right! A first cousin is the child of your parent's brothers and sisters. Second cousins are the children of your grandparents brothers and sisters!
So then, what is a first cousin once, twice or three times removed? They would be the children of your first cousin who had a child (first cousin once removed,) and if that person had a child (second cousin once removed), etc. including all of their decendants. The same holds true with second cousins, as they can also be once, twice, three or more times removed.
These relationships are of extreme importance when it comes to determining who will inherit from an estate. Second cousins are more distantly related than first cousins, no matter the "number". To add just a bit more confusion, the first children of your grandparents may also be considered as being "first cousins" but are of a further distance than the children of your uncle and aunts.
This is why having a professional genealogist to assist in making these determinations is so critical and significant. We have been a family whose vocation has been locating members of other families for over 79 years, and we get it right!
While we are not attorneys, we work with these technicalities every day. We are often asked to find the heirs in a particular estate, and each state has its laws that dictate who will inherit to the exclusion of others. In the State of Florida, the applicable statutes would be in Title XLII, Chapter 732, with a specific focus on 732.104, inheritance per stirpes, whereas in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it would be in General Laws, Part II, Title II, Chapter 190B, Article II, starting at Section 2-101, but specifically Section 2-103. Each state has their own laws and most have differences from one state to another.
Here's a good word for the dinner table discussion tonight: What is consobrinus? It isn't a meat, vegetable or unusual cocktail! It's the Latin word for "Cousin".
Visit us again soon, and we will have other interesting articles and commentary regarding genealogy, but not in the traditional manner as often thought about!
Click Here For A Genealogical Chart that explains this and other relationships