Fixing wrong relationships in Family Tree Maker
Family Tree Maker assumes every parent is biological. It doesn't ask, and it doesn't warn you. So the software treats every step-parent, adoptive parent and foster parent you add as a blood relative until you change it by hand. That quietly breaks every relationship the software calculates below them.
- Applies to
- FTM 2024 · 2019 · 2017 · 2014
- Platform
- Windows & Mac
- Time
- ~20 min
- Updated
This is the most common data error in otherwise careful trees. Someone records a stepfather with real care, adding dates, sources and photographs, and the software files him as a biological father because nobody asked. From that point the tree contains ancestry that never existed, and every cousin calculation through that branch is wrong.
Why it matters beyond tidiness
It's tempting to treat this as a labelling nicety. It isn't. Relationship type is what the software uses to decide who shares blood with whom, and three separate features depend on it:
- Relationship calculations. Cousin and removal working follows blood lines only. See how cousin relationships actually work. A wrong link invents ancestors.
- Charts and pedigree views. These display one line of descent, and the type decides which one.
- DNA reasoning. If you compare your tree against DNA matches, a step-parent recorded as biological will have you hunting a shared ancestor who was never there.
The main relationship types
The relationship menu offers several types, and these five cover almost every real family. Only the first is a blood relationship.
| Type | Use it when | Blood relative? |
|---|---|---|
| Biological | The natural parent. Applied automatically unless you say otherwise | Yes |
| Adopted | Legally adopted the child | No |
| Step | Married or partnered a biological parent | No |
| Foster | Raised the child without adopting | No |
| Guardianship | Held legal responsibility, often a relative after a bereavement | No |
Step 1 — Start from the child, not the parent
Catches people out The relationship belongs to the child
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Open the People workspace and select the child with the wrong parent type, not the parent.
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This is why people hunt for the setting on the step-parent's record and can't find it. A person can be a biological father to one child and a step-father to another, so the type is stored on each child individually.
Step 2 — Open the Relationships panel
Where the setting lives Person tab → Relationships
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With the child selected, go to the tab.
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Click . The editing panel lists each parent alongside the relationship currently recorded.
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Expect to see Biological against parents who aren't. That's the default, not a mistake you made.
Step 3 — Change the type
The correction Nothing is deleted
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Pick the correct entry from the relationship menu for that parent.
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The change re-describes an existing link rather than removing it. The parent stays attached, along with every fact, source and photograph. One of the safest edits in the program.
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Repeat for the other parent if needed. In a blended family the two often differ: biological mother, step-father.
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Check the pedigree view afterwards. Relationships that looked odd frequently resolve the moment the types are right.
Step 4 — Two sets of parents, and which one shows
For adoption You don't have to choose one family
An adopted person can hold both a biological set of parents and an adoptive set, each with its own type. That is usually the honest way to record it. The tree carries the legal family and the biological line without pretending either does not exist.
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Add the second set of parents and set the relationship type for each.
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Mark one couple as preferred. That set is what appears in the pedigree view and follows the person into charts.
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Preferred doesn't delete or hide the other set. It only decides what the tree displays by default. That is a display choice, not a judgement about which family counts.
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For research, people often prefer the biological line so ancestry traces back correctly, while keeping the adoptive family fully recorded. Your tree, your call.
Couples have a type and a status, and they are different things
Everything above concerns parents and children. Couples carry two separate settings, and people routinely change one when they meant the other.
- Type says what the relationship is. Every couple starts as Spouse, whether or not they ever married. Partners who never married, and couples you only suspect were together, need this changed.
- Status says where the relationship got to. Every couple starts as Ongoing. A divorce is recorded here, not in the type.
Both sit in the same place as the parent-child setting: select one of the pair, open the tab, click Relationships, select the partner, and use the Relationship and Status drop-downs in the panel on the right.
If someone had more than one spouse, a Preferred spouse tick box appears under the status. Only one partner can hold it, and that choice decides which marriage the pedigree view and your charts lead with. A man who married three times will otherwise show whichever the software picked, which is often not the one your research is built around.
Finding the ones already wrong
If your tree has been going for years, some of these are already in there. They do not announce themselves, so you have to go looking:
- Anywhere you know there was a remarriage. Start there; step-parents are the commonest case by far.
- Anywhere the relationship calculator has surprised you. Being told someone is a second cousin when you're certain they aren't is often this.
- Anyone you know was adopted, including informally within the family.
- Children raised by grandparents or an aunt. This was extremely common historically, and it is almost always recorded as biological.
- Branches imported from someone else's GEDCOM. Their assumptions came across with the data. Check duplicates at the same time. See merging duplicate people.
- Couples sitting at Unknown. Imports and older trees leave a lot of these. Open : the tool's fastest job is filtering every couple whose type reads Unknown, confirming the ones you know married, and switching the whole group to Spouse in one action rather than opening several hundred people one at a time.
Relationships coming out wrong across the tree?
Usually a mix of mis-typed parents and duplicates. We'll go through the structure with you and put it right on a copy of your file.
Recording blended families well
- Set the type as you add the person, not later. It takes seconds then and an evening in five years' time.
- Record both families for an adopted person where you know them. Removing one to keep the tree tidy loses real history.
- Use a note to explain unusual arrangements. No list of types captures everything, such as informal fostering by a neighbour.
- Be careful with living people. Adoption and parentage are sensitive; think about who sees the tree before you publish or share it.
- Check after every GEDCOM import. Other people's assumptions arrive with their data.
- Back up before a large cleanup — see backing up with media included.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Family Tree Maker show a step-parent as a biological parent?
Because the software assumes a biological relationship the moment you add a parent, and never asks you to confirm. It files every step, adoptive and foster parent as biological until you change it by hand. That is the most common data error we see in otherwise careful trees.
What relationship types can I choose from?
Biological, adopted, step, foster and guardianship. That covers most real family situations, and choosing accurately matters because relationship calculations, charts and DNA comparisons all depend on which links count as blood relationships.
Can one person have more than one set of parents?
Yes, and for an adopted person recording both is usually right. You can hold a biological set and an adoptive set simultaneously, each with its own type, so the tree reflects the legal family and the biological line rather than forcing a choice.
What do preferred parents actually control?
The preferred set appears in the pedigree view and follows the person into charts. It doesn't delete or hide the other set, which stays in the record. It's a choice about what the tree displays by default, not about which family is real.
Does the relationship type affect how cousins are calculated?
Yes, and this is why it matters beyond tidiness. Calculations follow blood lines, so a step-parent recorded as biological invents ancestry that never existed and produces wrong cousin relationships throughout that branch. See how relationships are worked out.
Will changing a relationship type delete anything?
No. It re-describes an existing link rather than removing it. The parent stays attached to the child with all facts, sources and media intact — only the nature of the connection changes. One of the safest corrections in the software.