Quote: (04-07-2014 01:28 PM)cardguy Wrote:
The thing about family trees is this.
Only research your Mother's side of the family - and her mother - and her mother.
Since within a few generations - you cannot be sure if the father got cuckolded along the way. And that throws everything off.
This is the same reason that being Jewish is passed down from your Mother.
True, but it's still worth investigating for anyone who doesn't have an EU citizenship. Many European countries have "blood right" citizenship laws: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_sanguinis
Italy is the most extreme example - if you have any Italians in your family tree who were in Italy in 1861 or later, then you have a good chance of getting Italian citizenship. The only strike-out is if one of the ancestors took on another citizenship (naturalised) before the next in line was born. Officially, mothers could only transmit citizenship since 1948, but it's very easy to challenge that rule in court.
There's also the matter of nature vs. nurture... until the last 50 years, fathers had a very strong influence on their kids, even if the kids were adopted.
I agree with what you wrote in the other thread, too. I've seen it happen with two of my grandparents - they were mentally capable but unable to look after themselves physically. The best option is to either die when your health starts to go, or have enough cash for a few full-time carers. I'm working on the second option.