The immediate family is a defined group of relations, used in rules or laws to determine which members of a person's

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

are affected by those rules. It normally includes a person's parents, siblings,

spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. In certain contexts, it can also apply to a civil union or common-law marriage. Although a spouse is a form of significant other, the latter term also includes non-marital partners who play a soci ...

, and

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

. It can contain others connected by

birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

, or

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

, such as grandparents,

grandchildren Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

aunts An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refe ...

, uncles, siblings-in-law,

half-siblings A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separa ...

cousins Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

, adopted children, step-parents/step-children, and cohabiting partners. The term close relatives is used similarly. The concept of "immediate family" acknowledges that a person has or may feel particular responsibilities towards family members, which may make it difficult to act fairly towards non-family (hence the refusal of many companies to employ immediate family members of current employees), or which call for special allowance to recognise this responsibility (such as compensation on death, or permission to leave work to attend a funeral). It is used by

travel insurance Travel insurance is an insurance product for covering unforeseen losses incurred while travelling, either internationally or domestically. Basic policies generally only cover emergency medical expenses while overseas, while comprehensive policies ...

policies to determine a set of people on the basis of whose health someone might need to cancel a journey or return early. The concept is used by some countries' inheritance laws.

Definitions

The exact meaning of "immediate family" varies, and will sometimes be defined in

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

or rules for a particular purpose. This can change over time: in 2005 the Scottish Government proposed to change the definition for purposes of compensation payments after deaths. The definition was to be expanded from "a remaining spouse, sexual cohabitant, partner, step-parent or step-child, parent-in-law or child-in-law, or an individual related by blood whose close association is an equivalent of a family relationship who was accepted by the deceased as a child of his/her family" to include "any person who had accepted the deceased as a child of the family, the brother or sister of the deceased, any person brought up in the same household as a child and who was him/herself accepted as a child of the family, the

same sex partner A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. '' Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

of the deceased, or any person who was the grandparent or grandchild of the deceased". In

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, for purposes of subdivision of Labor Code Section 2066, "immediate family member" means spouse, domestic partner, cohabitant, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, great grandparent, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepsibling, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or first cousin (that is, a child of an aunt or uncle). The

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Code of State Regulations, 19 CSR 15-7.021 (18) (H) states that "an immediate family member is defined as a parent; sibling; child by blood, adoption, or marriage; spouse; grandparent or grandchild." The Australian Fair Work Act 2009, Section 12, defines immediate family as "a spouse, de facto partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee; or a child, parent, grandparent or sibling of a spouse or de facto partner of the employee.", and "the definition of the term ‘de facto partner’ includes a former de facto partner." A travel

insurance policy In insurance, the insurance policy is a contract (generally a standard form contract) between the insurer and the policyholder, which determines the claims which the insurer is legally required to pay. In exchange for an initial payment, known a ...

which covers curtailment due to the death or illness of a member of the policy-holder's "immediate family" uses a wide definition but adds residential requirements: "Immediate Family is your Partner, and: parents, children, stepchildren, fostered or adopted children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, or grandparents, of either you or your Partner, who live in your Home Country." and "Partner is your spouse or someone of either sex with whom you have a permanent relationship, and who also lives with you at your Home."

Wills and inheritance

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, there are many rules and rights surrounding immediate family members after a family death. If the will names a non-immediate family member to be the executor of the will, he or she cannot have an "official role in these matters". Even if a person is not a joint owner, if they are an immediate family member a bank is likely to give them access to the deceased's safety deposit box. Some states that enforce no-contest provisions do not enforce them against immediate family members. In some states, the immediate family may receive a family allowance – a court-ordered amount paid to them from estate funds to provide help for living expenses. They may also entitled to homestead allowance – an amount of equity in the family home. In many states, household goods (sentimental but not expensive goods) can be passed onto immediate family members without probate. In

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, beneficiaries are almost always immediate family members. Generally, the distribution to the immediate family leaves the spouse with the third or a half of the property and the issue with the balance. Usually, the pattern was to leave the entire estate to one's immediate family or other relatives, thereby "preserving the family as a significant social unit". The willing to other people or institutions is associated with either a wealth or an absence of an immediate family. If there is an absence of an immediate family, the testator is given the freedom to diverge from the usual distribution of property and wealth.

Workforce

In some cases, a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

will not employ an immediate family member of a current employee. Sometimes, "authorized" absence due to the death of one's immediate family member allows an employee to still be eligible for an attendance bonus. In these cases, the company the employee belongs to will acknowledge the significance of the absence and will, for example, be granted 3 working days off between the day of death and the day after the burial inclusive. Full-time workers can apply for bereavement leave, and part-time or temporary employees can apply for leave without pay.

Independence

Rules may specify that a person may not hold a particular office if they, "or any member of their immediate family" do not meet particular criteria. For example, a director of a

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

company must be independent: neither they nor their family members may have been an executive officer of the company within the past 3 years, received more than $100,000 in direct compensation from the company in the past 3 years, or been employed as an

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

of another firm within the past 3 years.

References

External links