Short answer. By counting generations: under Article 963 of the Civil Code, proximity of relationship is determined by the number of generations, and each generation forms a degree. Article 965 splits the direct line in two — descending, uniting the head of the family with those who descend from him, and ascending, binding a person with those from whom he descends.
What the law says
Proximity of relationship is determined by the number of generations. Each generation forms a degree.
Civil Code, Article 963 — How Proximity Is Measured. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The direct line is either descending or ascending. The former unites the head of the family with those who descend from him. The latter binds a person with those from whom he descends.
Civil Code, Article 965 — Descending and Ascending Lines. Read the full provision →
One generation, one degree
Article 963 reduces family closeness to arithmetic: Proximity of relationship is determined by the number of generations. Each generation forms a degree. In the direct line the count is simply the generations separating two people. A parent and child are one generation apart — one degree. Grandparent and grandchild are two degrees; great-grandparent and great-grandchild, three. The rule deliberately ignores everything else that makes relatives feel close or distant — affection, shared households, estrangement. The law measures relationship the one way that can be applied identically to every family: by counting.
The descending and ascending lines
Article 965 then names the two directions of the direct line: The direct line is either descending or ascending. The former unites the head of the family with those who descend from him. The latter binds a person with those from whom he descends. The same chain of people is involved either way — the label depends on where you stand. Looking from a grandfather down to his children and grandchildren is the descending line; looking from a grandchild up to parents and grandparents is the ascending line.
Why degrees matter in inheritance
Degrees are the yardstick the succession rules reach for whenever the law must choose among surviving relatives, and the vocabulary of descending and ascending lines runs through the provisions on who inherits and in what order. That is why the counting rule matters to real estates: whether someone stands two degrees or three from the person who died can be the difference between inheriting and watching from outside. The counting itself is mechanical, but disputes are usually about the links — whether a claimed parent-child connection in the chain actually exists in law.
Working out your own chart
Before consulting a lawyer about an inheritance, sketch the family tree from the deceased outwards and count the generations along each branch. Then match each link with the document that proves it — typically the birth and marriage certificates that establish each parent-child connection in the chain. An undocumented link is where claims stall, because every degree in the count assumes the generations above and below it are legally established. With the chart and the papers in hand, the question of who stands nearest in degree usually answers itself.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 963 — How Proximity Is Measured
- Civil Code, Article 965 — Descending and Ascending Lines