{{languages|Add a spouse}}

Gramps considers a family unit to be a relationship between two people and potentially their offspring or dependents. This relationship could be ''Married'', ''Unmarried'', ''Civil Union'', or ''Unknown''. The two principal people are labeled as ''Father/partner1'' and ''Mother/partner2''. However, these can be used to handle childless couples, couples with children, or even same-sex partners. A person can have multiple partners, but each is listed in a different Family.

A Family with unknown partners can still be used for adding children which creates a sibling relationship. Blended families are characterized by at least one of the children having a [[Gramps_{{man version}}_Wiki_Manual_-_Entering_and_editing_data:_detailed_-_part_1#Child_Reference_Editor|non-birth relationship]] with a parent. Such a non-traditional relationship may be set even when the parents are unknown.

Partners are added using the {{man label|[[Gramps_{{man version}}_Wiki_Manual_-_Entering_and_editing_data:_detailed_-_part_1#Family_Editor_dialog|Family Editor dialog]]}}. You can bring up this dialog from two different views - the {{man label|[[Gramps_{{man version}}_Wiki_Manual_-_Categories#Relationships_Category|Relationship View]]}} and the {{man label|[[Gramps_{{man version}}_Wiki_Manual_-_Categories#Families_Category|Family List View]]}}.