Your next of kin is your closest living relative, named on official forms. The person who gets the phone call.
Hospitals, employers and the armed forces all ask for one, and the phrase informing the next of kin is the formal step before any death is announced publicly. Legally the term matters for who may make decisions and who inherits without a will, though the exact definition varies by country and, in England, a partner you are not married to may not count, which surprises a great many people.
1phrasenext of kinA person's closest living relative, recorded for official purposes.
“They could not release the name until the next of kin had been told.”
Practised in Family & People, A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 39 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word