When explaining your relationship with a nominee in a form, it’s useful to know what perspective you’re being asked about it from. This article will help you answer it, so you don’t have to be confused again.
What Does “Relationship With Nominee” Mean In Forms?
“Relationship with nominee” means that you must identify your relationship with the person you deemed a “nominee.” In any form, if you have to give a nominee, you must also state what your relationship is. This could be a blood relation or a friend relation, depending on the form.
This only applies to forms where nominees are required. For example, if you’re filling out an insurance form, you might be asked to specify the nominee.
If you choose your father as the nominee, you would then have to fill out “father” when asked “relationship with nominee.” It’s simple to fill in their exact relationship with you and not worry about anything else.
You should only ever fill out your relationship with someone else when you are asked for it in a form. There is never a reason to write what their relationship is to you. It all comes down to the perspective, which we’ll get to in the next section.
How Should I Fill Out Forms That Ask For “Relationship With Nominee”?
Of course, if you’re unsure how to answer the relationship field, you might need further guidance. The easiest way to remember how to answer it is to remember the perspective of the form.
All forms are written from the perspective of the policyholder. Therefore, when they ask “relationship with nominee,” they are asking for your relationship with the nominee you have put forward.
So, if you have answered that your mother is your nominee, then “mother” should be the relationship you fill in. Likewise, if the nominee is your son, then a simple “son” answer would suffice.
Once you understand the perspective, these forms get much easier to fill in correctly. Remember, it’s always your relationship with someone else rather than your relationship with you.
Many people get confused and think that if they write their son’s name, they should write “father” as the relationship. Unfortunately, this is using the perspective the wrong way round, and “son” would be the more appropriate choice.
Just imagine that the form is talking to you specifically. It wants to know about your relationship with the nominee. Once you understand that, you’ll have a much easier time figuring out how to write in these fields.
Does “Relationship With Guardian” And “Relationship With Nominee” Mean The Same?
Sometimes, you will get more specific questions. “Relationship with guardian” is one such thing that comes up.
“Relationship with guardian” and “relationship with nominee” mean the same. However, “guardian” is much more specific than “nominee,” and it usually works best when you’ve already named somebody as your guardian.
Most forms don’t use “relationship with guardian” because it takes for granted the answer of the field. For example, if you wrote your son’s name, it’s clear that your son is not your guardian, and therefore the field would be irrelevant.
It’s not common to see “relationship with guardian,” but the idea is the same. For the most part, you’ll either write “mother,” “father,” or just “guardian,” when you want to show whatever this relationship is.
Can A Nominee Be Other Than Blood Relations?
We’ve already mentioned it, but we don’t always have to put blood relations as nominees. There are plenty of other choices out there.
You can use anyone as a nominee. Certain forms might require specific nominees, but most forms ask for anyone that you trust.
So, if you want to use your girlfriend, you can write her name in. When they ask for the relationship between you, you can use “partner,” “girlfriend,” or “wife” (if you are legally married).
The same applies if you’re really close to one of your friends. There’s nothing wrong with using “friend” in the “relationship with nominee” field, even though “friend” doesn’t refer to a specific blood relation.
Which Types Of Forms Ask For “Relationship With Nominee”?
It might help to know which types of forms ask for relationships with the nominee. We thought it might help to list a couple out for you:
- Insurance forms
- Policies
- Educational forms
- Schooling forms
- Work forms
- Medical forms
- Estate agent forms
- Dealership forms
- Bank forms
There are plenty of different forms that might require a relationship. For the most part, they ask for a relationship when it’s important to list a nominee relevant to the form’s overall outcome.
If the form requires information from your nominee, then it’s appropriate to give them the correct details to contact them. That’s what the nominee field is most important for.
Which Other Relationships Can Forms Ask For?
We don’t always look for “relationship with nominee” fields in our forms either. There are a few other relationships that you might come across.
Some forms ask for the following relationships:
- Relationship to applicant
- Relationship to depositor
- Relationship to the account holder
- Relationship to candidate
- Relationship to proposer
- Relationship to deceased
- Relationship to colleauge
- Relationship to referee
- Relationship to emergency contact
All of these relationships are applicable depending on the form you are filling in. Of course, some are very specific (for example, “relationship to deceased” only applies to wills or life insurance forms).
For the most part, “nominee” or “applicant” will be the most likely ones you come across.
Either way, you’ll want to make sure that you understand what they’re asking. Since all forms are written from the same perspective, you can always trust that they are asking for your direct relationship with the person you are mentioning.
There’s no need to overthink it. Whatever your relationship is, just write that:
- If it’s your mother, write mother.
- Your father is “father”
- Your son is “son”
- Your daughter is “daughter”
- Your partner is “partner”
- Your husband is “husband”
And so on. We do not have to specify what their relationship is to us, only what our relationship is to them.