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Add Relationships

You might add a relationship when there's someone other than the immediate family that you need to contact or send information to. For example, with divorced families, you may need to contact the birth parent or send them a letter regarding their child. Other examples include grandparents, godparents, emergency contacts, family friends, and doctors/dentists.

Note: If you share data between your PDS Office programs, the relationship information you enter in one program is automatically added in the other. Also, the drop-down list for members and families includes all visible data in your data file, so you can select records from the other program.

Add Relationships with Existing Members or Families

For a family or members of a family, you can track relationships with other members/families in your PDS Office database.

  1. On the Information tab, click Families > Relationships.
  2. Locate the appropriate family.
  3. Click either Use Existing Member or Use Existing Family, then select the existing member or family to add a relationship with.
  4. In the grid, select the member(s) who have a relationship with the member/family, or select the [Name] Family checkbox to create the relationship with the entire family.
  5. In the Relationship column, select how the existing member/family is related to each selected member/family.
  6. If you want to track the same relationships on the existing member/family record, select Create Reciprocal Relationships. In the Reciprocal Relationship column, select how the selected member/family is related to the existing member/family.
    Note:

    For example, if the existing member is the grandmother of the family member(s) you selected in the grid, enter "Grandparent" in the Relationship column and enter "Grandchild" in the Reciprocal Relationship column.

    You can make sure you selected the correct relationships by clicking Check Relationship.

  7. Click Use/OK.
  8. If needed, enter any additional information you have about the member/family.
  9. Select Send Courtesy Copies if you want to be able to send a courtesy copy when sending a letter to the family. For details on this, see Report Selections.
  10. Select Show On Fam Directory if you want to print the relationship information on Family Directory reports. This is helpful for divorced families.
  11. At the top, click Save.

Add Relationships with People Outside Your Parish

For a family or members of a family, you can track relationships with people outside of your parish.

  1. On the Information tab, click Families > Relationships.
  2. Locate the appropriate family.
  3. In the Name field, enter the name of the person the family/member has a relationship with, then click Apply/OK.
    This person is not added to your database. Their information is only used for the relationship record.
  4. In the grid, select the member(s) who have a relationship with the person, or select the [Name] Family checkbox to create the relationship with the entire family.
  5. In the Relationship column, select how the person is related to each selected member/family.
  6. Enter any additional information you have about the person.
  7. Select Send Courtesy Copies if you want to be able to send a courtesy copy when sending a letter to the family. For details on this, see Report Selections.
  8. Select Show On Fam Directory if you want to print the relationship information on Family Directory reports. This is helpful for divorced families.
  9. At the top, click Save.
    Note: You can make sure you selected the correct relationships by clicking Check Relationship.