I'm not really sure what subtopic this falls in under Family and it's actually a group of questions.

When I was little, my aunt and uncle divorced. My uncle is my dad's brother. Is that aunt still an aunt?

My uncle remarried a few years ago. Is his wife my aunt or my stepaunt? Is his daughter my cousin or my stepcousin?

Also, would her nieces be cousins or stepcousins or cousins removed?

While I'm asking about cousins removed, how does that work as opposed to first, second and third cousins?

I know that's a lot for one question, but I am so confused.

I really don't know if there's any official protocol about ex's and subsequent marriage partners of aunts/uncles. My casual impression is that whoever is currently married to an uncle would be an aunt, but I'd probably still refer to an ex-wife as my aunt, if I liked her.

As far as cousins go, that's pretty straightforward, really. Children of siblings are first cousins (to each other), children of first cousins are second cousins, children of second cousins are third cousins, and so on. Cousins removed is a little more complicated, but not much. A child of my first cousin is my first cousin once removed, a child of my second cousin is my second cousin once removed, etc. A grandchild of my first cousin is my first cousin twice removed, a grandchild of my second cousin is my second cousin twice removed, etc. A great-grandchild of my first cousin is my first cousin thrice removed,.

Of course all this gets more complicated when there are multiple marriages in multiple generations, with step-this's and step-that's. I don't really know how that would all be described.

Does this help at all, or just make it worse?

Ok let me get this straight.

My first cousin has two sons. So both those sons are my first cousins once removed, but to any future children I might have, those boys would be my child's second cousins, is that it?

Ok let me get this straight.

My first cousin has two sons. So both those sons are my first cousins once removed, but to any future children I might have, those boys would be my child's second cousins, is that it?

You got it! At least that's how I understand it. If I've got it wrong, somebody please correct me. Does anybody know how to handle the multiple marriage complexities?

I believe the wife your uncle divorced in no longer your aunt, since her relation to you was by marriage that ended, as opposed to a blood relation such as your uncle. His new wife is your aunt the same way the first one was, by marriage. Your uncle's kids are cousins and your uncle's new wife's kids are not technically cousins but since that would really alienate, I bet they get called "step cousins" anyway.

There was a lot of divorce in my extended family. But if you want to see how really crazy it gets... my dad divorced my mom and married my girlfriend and they had a child. I married a divorced man who has two children, both which are older than my half brother. So their uncle, my half brother, would be younger than his "step" niece and "step" nephew. :eek:

my dad divorced my mom and married my girlfriend and they had a child.

So your dad married a friend of yours? That's crazy.



I married a divorced man who has two children, both which are older than my half brother. So their uncle, my half brother, would be younger than his "step" niece and "step" nephew. :eek:

"Eek" is right. My family actually has a situation that's about as crazy. I believe the story goes that when my dad's maternal grandparents married, my great-grandmother's mother was a widow and my great-grandfather's father was a widower. After my great-grandparents married, my great-great-grandparents married. That made my great-grandparents step-siblings as well as husband and wife. Because of this, not only were they parents to my grandmother and her brother and sister, but also aunt and uncle. Therefore, my grandmother and her siblings were their own first cousins, which in turn made my dad and his brother their own second cousins and I am my own third cousin.

I know that sounds really strange and really confusing, trust me, it took me about 6 years to actually wrap my mind about it. Just thought I'd share!