Immediate Family Law & Legal Definition

Immediate family refers to a person’s parents, spouse, children, and siblings and will also include the parent’s spouse. Usually step children and adopted children and their spouses are included under the purview of immediate family.

An example of a Missouri Statute defining immediate family is the Missouri Code of State Regulations,19 CSR 15-7.021 (18) (H). It defines immediate family as follows:

An immediate family member is defined as a parent; sibling; child by blood, adoption, or marriage; spouse; grandparent or grandchild.