Near Relative (1907 - 2004)

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Near relative was a term defined in the State Children Act 1907 (s.4) to describe close relatives of a child. The legal definition of people classed as 'near relatives' was precise, and changed only a little over the years. Near relatives were defined differently for children born in wedlock and those who were 'illegitimate'. The near relatives of an illegitimate child were 'the mother and the person admitting himself to be or adjudged by a competent Court to be the father of such child, and the husband of the mother of such child, if born before their marriage'. Other children's near relatives were 'father, mother, step-father, step-mother, brother, sister, or any grand parent of the child'. The Child Welfare Act 1947 (s.4) removed the court's role in defining the father of an illegitimate child. The term continued to be used until it was replaced in the Children and Community Services Act 2004 (s.3) by the more general descriptor, relative.