Legal Definitions - stepsister

A stepsister is the daughter of one's stepparent from a previous marriage or relationship. This means that two individuals are stepsisters if one's parent marries the other's parent, but they do not share a biological parent.

• Example 1: Blended Family from Childhood

  After Liam's father, Michael, married Sarah, Liam gained a stepsister. Sarah had a daughter named Olivia from her previous marriage. Olivia moved in with Michael and Sarah, becoming part of Liam's new household.

  This illustrates the term because Olivia is the daughter of Liam's stepparent (Sarah) from a prior relationship. They are now stepsiblings within the same blended family, even though they do not share a biological parent.

• Example 2: Adult Stepsiblings

  When Anna's mother, Eleanor, remarried in her fifties, she married a man named George. George had an adult daughter, Clara, who lived in another city. Anna and Clara met at their parents' wedding and began to build a relationship as adults.

  Clara is Anna's stepsister. Even though both Anna and Clara are adults and their parents married later in life, the relationship is established through their parents' marriage, making them stepsiblings.

• Example 3: Family Events and Introductions

  At a large family gathering, Mark introduced his colleague to his stepsister, Emily. Mark explained that Emily was the daughter of his father's second wife, whom his father married after Mark's biological mother passed away.

  Emily is Mark's stepsister because she is the daughter of Mark's stepparent (his father's second wife). They are related through their parents' marriage, but do not share a biological parent.