In Family Tree Maker, the relationships you create between couples and parents and their children are initially assigned a default relationship type. You can change this type for any particular relationship if necessary. For a couple, you can also indicate the status of the relationship.
Tip: If you need to change the relationship type for multiple couples or parent-child relationships in your tree, you can do so quickly and easily using the Managing Relationships tool. For example, you can use this new tool to find all married people in your tree whose relationship is mistakenly shown as “Unknown”, and change them all at once to “Spouse”. To find out more about this tool, click here.
This article covers the following topics:
- Choosing a Type of Relationship for a Couple
- Choosing a Status for a Couple’s Relationship
- Choosing a Parent-Child Relationship Type
Choosing a Type of Relationship for a Couple
The default relationship type for couples in Family Tree Maker is “Spouse,” but this may not always be an accurate reflection of a couple’s relationship. Once a relationship is created, you can change both its type and status if necessary so that it better indicates the actual connection between the two people involved.
To choose a relationship type for a couple, follow these steps:
You can choose what type of relationship a couple has (e.g., partner, friend, spouse).
- Go to the Tree tab on the People workspace and select the appropriate couple.
- Click the Person tab; then click the Relationships button.
Select a spouse. Then, in the editing panel, choose a relationship type from the Relationship pop-up menu.
Choosing a Status for a Couple’s Relationship
The status of a couple’s relationship is “Ongoing” by default. If necessary, you can change this status. For example, if a couple gets a divorce, you can indicate this using their relationship status.
Tip: You can enable a setting called “Upon Death of Either Spouse” in general preferences to automatically change the relationship status of couples to “Deceased” when a death date is entered for either person.
- Go to the Tree tab on the People workspace and select the appropriate couple.
- Click the Person tab; then click the Relationships button.
Select the spouse’s name. Then, in the editing panel, choose a status from the Status pop-up menu.
Choosing a Parent-Child Relationship Type
You can indicate a child’s relationship to each of his or her parents (e.g., biological, adopted, foster).
- Go to the Tree tab on the People workspace and select the child whose relationship you want to update.
- Click the Person tab; then click the Relationships button.
Select the father’s or mother’s name. Then, in the editing panel, choose a relationship from the Relationship pop-up menu.