1. A close agreement.
2. The relation that one spouse has to the blood relatives of the other spouse; relationship by marriage.
3. Any familial relation resulting from a marriage. Cf. CONSANGUINITY. See relative by affinity under RELATIVE. Cf. AFFINITAS AFFINITATIS ; CONSAN-GUINITY. [Cases: Marriage 10. C.J.S. Marriage § 17.]
“There is no affinity between the blood relatives of one spouse and the blood relatives of the other. A husband is related by affinity to his wife’s brother, but not to the wife of his wife’s brother. There is no affinity between the husband’s brother and the wife’s sister; this is called affinitas affinitatis.” 2 Charles E. Torcia, Wharton’s Criminal Law § 242, at 573 (15th ed. 1994).
collateral affinity. The relationship of a spouse’s relatives to the other spouse’s relatives. • An example is a wife’s brother and her husband’s sister. [Cases: Marriage 10. C.J.S. Marriage § 17.]
direct affinity. The relationship of a spouse to the other spouse’s blood relatives. • An example is a wife and her husband’s brother.
quasi-affinity. Civil law. The affinity existing between two persons, one of whom has been engaged to a relative of the other.
secondary affinity. The relationship of a spouse to the other spouse’s marital relatives. • An example is a wife and her husband’s sister-in-law.
