“In the mode of computing the degrees of consanguinity, the civil law … begins with the intestate, and descends from that ancestor to the next heir, reckoning for each person, as well in the ascending as descending lines. Ac-cording to this rule of computation, the father of the intestate stands in the first degree, his brother in the second, and his brother’s children in the third. Or, the grandfather stands in the second degree, the uncle in the third, the cousins in the fourth, and so on in a series of genealogical order. In the canon law, which is also the rule of the common law, in tracing title by descent, the common ancestor is the terminus a quo. The several degrees of kinship are deduced from him. By this method, the brother of A is related to him in the first degree instead of being in the second … for he is but one degree removed from the common ancestor. The uncle is related to A in the second degree, for though the uncle be but one degree from the common ancestor, yet A is removed two degrees from the grandfather, who is the common ancestor.” 4 James Kent, Commentaries on American Law *412–13 (George Comstock ed., 11th ed. 1866).
collateral consanguinity. The relationship between persons who have the same ancestor but do not descend or ascend from one another (for example, uncle and nephew, cousins, etc.).
lineal consanguinity. The relationship between persons who are directly descended or ascended from one another (for example, mother and daughter, great-grandfather and grandson, etc.).
