Legal Definitions - whole blood

In a legal context, particularly concerning inheritance, kinship, or succession, whole blood refers to a relationship between two individuals who share both the same mother and the same father. This distinction is often crucial in determining legal rights, such as who inherits property when there is no will, or who has priority in certain legal proceedings, as it differentiates from "half-blood" relatives who share only one parent.

• Example 1: Inheritance Distribution
  When Mr. Davies passed away without a will, his estate needed to be distributed according to state law. He had two children: Lisa, from his marriage to Mrs. Davies, and Tom, from a previous relationship with a different mother. Under the state's intestacy laws, which sometimes prioritize "whole blood" relatives in certain situations, Lisa, being the "whole blood" child of both Mr. and Mrs. Davies, might have a different claim or share compared to Tom, who is a "half-blood" sibling to Lisa (sharing only Mr. Davies as a parent).

  This example illustrates "whole blood" by showing Lisa's relationship to her parents and how it differs from Tom's relationship, which could impact their respective inheritance rights based on specific legal statutes.

• Example 2: Property Succession Clause
  A family trust document stipulated that if the primary beneficiary, Ms. Eleanor Vance, died without direct descendants, the property would pass to the "nearest living relative of whole blood." Ms. Vance died childless. Her relatives included a full brother, Robert (sharing both parents), and a half-sister, Susan (sharing only their mother). The trust's specific wording meant that Robert, sharing both parents with Ms. Vance, would qualify as a "whole blood" relative, while Susan, sharing only one parent, would not meet this specific criterion for inheriting under the trust's terms.

  Here, the trust explicitly uses "whole blood" to specify the type of kinship required for succession, demonstrating how legal documents can define and limit beneficiaries based on shared parentage.

• Example 3: Legal Guardianship Statute
  A state statute outlining the order of preference for appointing a legal guardian for a minor child, whose parents are deceased, states that "siblings of the whole blood" shall be given priority over "siblings of the half blood" if all other factors are equal. In a case where a child's parents died, and the child had both a full sister (sharing both parents) and a half-brother (sharing only the mother), the full sister would be considered first for guardianship under this statute.

  This example demonstrates how "whole blood" is used in statutory language to establish a hierarchy of kinship for legal purposes, in this case, determining who might be preferred as a guardian based on their shared parentage with the minor.