Spouses

Multiple Spouses 101
Multiple Spouses: a Visual Clue
The Preferred Spouse
Adding Spouses: New or Existing?

If a Person Never Married
Children of Multiple Spouses
Sorting Spouses of One Person

Sorting Spouses for Everybody

Renaming Spouses
Removing or Unlinking Spouses
Moving a Spouse to Another Family

Marrying Two People Who Were Entered Separately
Removing a "None" Spouse

Navigating to Other Spouses

Showing Other Spouses in the Family View

Multiple Spouses 101

Reunion makes a different family record for each couple. If a man has been married three times in total, he will appear on three family records — one for each immediate family of which he was a part. The biological and adopted children of each of his three separate marriages will appear on the family record showing the children's biological or adoptive parents as the husband and wife. (Step-children and adopted children are discussed here.)

Multiple Spouse Example: Kim

Let's assume Kim was married three times.

Multiple Spouses: a Visual Clue

All person buttons in the family view include a little red in the upper-right called the Person menu button. This little button appears red when a person has multiple spouses. Learn more.

The Preferred Spouse

If you click a child button in the normal way (if you don't click the red ), Reunion will open the family record of the child and her preferred spouse.

To pick the preferred spouse...

  1. Click the Person menu button .
  2. Choose Spouses & Children > Edit Spouses. This opens the window shown below.

To change the preferred spouse, click in the Preferred column. A red check mark indicates the spouse who is designated as preferred. Thus, if a person has multiple spouses, and you typically want a particular spouse to appear with a person as you navigate through your family file, the key is to change the preferred spouse.

Note: the Edit Spouses item (in the Spouses & Children submenu of the Person menu button) only appears when a person has multiple spouses.

Adding Spouses: New or Existing?

As you're about to add a spouse to a person, you should ask yourself if the spouse is already entered in the family file. If not, you add a new spouse.

Adding the First Spouse

To add the first spouse to a person (and you're certain that the spouse hasn't already been entered), simply click the empty spouse button. The Edit Person panel will appear waiting for you to enter the spouse's name, dates, and other details.

Adding Additional Spouses

To add another spouse to somebody (e.g., when somebody becomes divorced and remarries), click the Add (+) button that appears above a person's name and choose Add New Spouse if the spouse hasn't yet been entered in the family file. When you add a new spouse, the Edit Person panel will appear waiting for you to enter the spouse's name, dates, and other details.

To add a spouse who is already entered somewhere in the family file, click the Add (+) button that appears above a person's name and choose Add Spouse from the Sidebar. Then drag the spouse from the People sidebar and drop her directly in the family view, right on top of the current spouse.

Or, if you're not sure if the spouse is already in your family file, you can try the Add Spouse Using Search feature.

Why would somebody already be in the family file? Perhaps she is related to somebody else in the family file, or she was previously entered in some other line of the family. Example situations include when cousins marry or when the survivors of two pre-existing marriages marry.

Reunion supports up to 150 spouses per person.

If a Person Never Married

If a person was never married, click the Add (+) button above a person's name and choose Never Married.

The "never married" designation...

Note: "Never Married" is a different designation than "Unmarried." "Unmarried" refers to a couple, and is explained here. "Never Married" refers to a person.

Children of Multiple Spouses

A child should be entered in the family where his biological or adoptive parents appear as the husband and wife. Step-children and biological children are normally displayed on different families. Step-children of one couple are really the biological children of another couple and, in Reunion, are entered and shown that way. For a possible exception to this rule, click here.

Sorting Spouses of One Person

To edit the order of spouses (or the order of marriages) for a person...

  1. Click his Person menu button (in upper-right corner of his button).
  2. Choose Spouses & Children > Edit Spouses. This opens the window shown below.

To put the spouses in correct chronological order, click the Sort button. If necessary, you can click on a spouse in the list and drag him up or down (for example, if marriage dates for the spouses are incomplete or unknown).

In the Edit Spouses window (and in the Person > Spouses & Children menu), multiple spouses should be listed chronologically by marriage date. Otherwise, spouses in reports and charts may be listed in the wrong order. Also, spouse order may affect the contents of sidebars and lists, as described here.

Sorting Spouses for Everybody

To edit the order of marriages (or spouses) chronologically for everybody, or for marked people...

  1. Select Change in the navbar.
  2. Select Sort.
  3. Select Marriages.

Options will be presented to sort the marriages for...

In records where a couple has no marriage date, the options include...

When finished sorting marriages, Reunion can mark people whose marriages were sorted or people whose marriages couldn't be sorted (due to missing or incomplete dates).

When the options are set up, click the Sort button.

Renaming Spouses

A name that appears in the Spouses & Children menu represents the first name, last name, and title entered for a person. Thus, if a name isn't correct in the menu (misspelled, for example), then it wasn't entered correctly and will need to be changed in the Edit Person panel. Correcting it there will correct it in the Spouses & Children menu.

Removing or Unlinking Spouses

If the wrong spouse appears in a family, the easiest way to remove the spouse is to drag him to the Clipboard sidebar.

If a person has more than one spouse, another method for removing a spouse from a person is to...

  1. Click the Person menu button .
  2. Choose Spouses & Children > Edit Spouses.
  3. Select a spouse in the list.
  4. Click Remove Spouse.

This will remove the spouse from a person; however, it does not delete the spouse from the family file. You can always locate the removed spouse in the People sidebar.

Moving a Spouse to Another Family

If you accidentally add a spouse to the wrong person, you can "move" the spouse from one person to another. Here's how:

  1. Navigate to the family where the spouse appears incorrectly.
  2. Make sure that Clipboard is selected in the list of Sidebars.
  3. Drag the spouse's button to the Clipboard sidebar.
  4. Navigate to the family where the spouse should appear.
  5. Drag the person out of the Clipboard and onto the button where the spouse should appear.
Marrying Two People Who Were Entered Separately

If two people are already entered in your family file, Reunion lets you link them together as spouses at any time. To do this, simply click the Add (+) button above the person's name and select Add Spouse from the Sidebar.

When you do this, the People sidebar will appear where you can locate the person you want him or her to marry and simply drag and drop him to the correct spot in the family view. The two people will now be linked as husband and wife (or spouses). By default, the People sidebar will only show people of the opposite sex (when you choose Add Spouse from the Sidebar). If you need to see same-sex or unknown-sex people, just clear the search box at the top of the sidebar.

The following examples illustrate how to marry two people who have already been entered separately in your family file.

PROBLEM
# 1
We have entered Tom and Sally on a family record.
They divorce.
Mary already appears on a different family record with her ex-husband Joe.
Tom and Mary walk the aisle.
How do I marry them in my file?
SOLUTION
Find the family record where Tom and Sally appear together.
Click the Add (+) button above Tom's name and choose Add Spouse from the Sidebar.
Find Mary's name in the People sidebar.
Drag and drop her into the spouse button next to Tom.
This will create a new family record for Tom and Mary.

 

PROBLEM
# 2
Harry and Paul are the sons of James.
Harry marries Anna.
Paul marries Mary.
We have already entered both of these marriages in the family file.
Harry dies.
Mary dies.
Anna marries Paul.
SOLUTION
Go to Paul and Mary's family record.
Click the Add (+) button above Paul's name, choose Add Spouse from the Sidebar.
Find Anna in the People sidebar.
Drag and drop her into the spouse button next to Paul.

  —or—

Go to Harry and Anna's family record.
Using the Add (+) button above Anna's name, choose Add Spouse from the Sidebar.
Find Paul in the People sidebar.
Drag and drop him into the spouse button next to Anna.
Removing a "None" Spouse

The word None will appear in the Person > Spouses & Children menu if one of the spouses has been dragged to the Clipboard or deleted. See the example below.

In this example, the "None" spouse appears because the family record for Leroy Brown and the first spouse still exists, allowing you to add the correct spouse on that family record. However, in some cases, a correct spouse may not exist, and you simply wish to delete the family record (in this case, the family record for Leroy Brown and the spouse that was removed).

This can be accomplished in two different ways...

Click here for more details on deleting records.