Yesterday I encountered a misleading translation in an online glossary on inheritance law terminology that I believe is worth noting. There the expression “next of kin” was rendered in Spanish as pariente consanguíneo más cercano. My first thought was, “What? My husband of 46 years isn’t my ‘next of kin’?” And of course, the Spanish definition is incomplete because “next of kin” denotes “the person or persons most closely related to a decedent by blood or affinity” (Black’s Law Dictionary), affinity (afinidad* in Spanish) being “kinship by marriage.”

Knowing someone’s next of kin is important in case of an emergency, and is used to distribute the estate of a decedent who has died intestate. Several sources that I’ve checked indicate that in many jurisdictions there is no legal definition of “next of kin.” But for what it’s worth, here are explanations of the term chosen at random from a US, UK and Australian perspective:

• From Petrov Law Firm (California): Generally, the list of next-of-kin is as follows: spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandparents. Without a will to follow, a probate court will go down the list until it reaches a living person and assign that person your entire estate.
• From Howells Solicitors in the UK: “Next of kin usually means your nearest blood relative. In the case of a married couple or a civil partnership it usually means their husband or wife. Next of kin is a title that can be given, by you, to anyone from your partner to blood relatives and even friends. It is also possible to name more than one person as your next of kin. This is a title that is primarily used in order for emergency services to know who to keep informed about an individual’s condition and treatment.
• From Legalvision in Australia: The NSW Coroners Act 2009 assists in determining who will be a person’s next of kin. Where the Coroner is involved and a decision must be made by a deceased’s next of kin, the Coroner will decide who that person is based on an order of priority. First, the deceased’s spouse, then adult children, parents, adult siblings, then lastly any person named as executor under the person’s will, or who was their legal personal representative immediately before death. A spouse also includes a de facto partner.

*afinidad—parentesco que mediante el matrimonio se establece entre cada cónyuge y los parientes del otro (Diccionario Jurídico Thompson-Aranzadi)