Sibling relationships

A legal and interdisciplinary analysis

The recently published dissertation of former Institute research associate Luise von Kügelgen examines questions surrounding the inner orientation of the law in its treatment of sibling relationships. Her study reaches across legal fields, taking account of various areas of civil and criminal law. Additionally, she analyzes which understanding of the quality of the sibling relationship underlies the respective legal rules.

In her work, von Kügelgen shows that siblings are often subject to the same legal scheme as that governingunrelated parties. It is only in exceptional cases that the law prescribes unique provision for siblings. Even when special rules do apply, they usually differ from the legal exceptions provided for parents and their children and as between spouses. In addition to her legal analysis, the author sets out to examine the extent to which the depiction of sibling relationships within the law corresponds to social science research on siblings. Based on her examination of relevant regulations, she identifies three different legal perspectives related to the quality of sibling relationships and concludes that these can only be partially reconciled with the findings of social science regarding siblings.

Dr. Luise von Kügelgen studied law at Bucerius Law School (BLS) and Auckland University and sat for her first state law exam in 2020. Thereafter, in connection with her doctoral studies, she worked as a reasearch assistant under Institute Director Prof. Dr. Anne Röthel, initially at Prof. Dr. Röthel’s former chair at BLS and later, from 2024, as a member of her Institute working group. In 2025 she was awarded her doctoral degree by BLS. Her doctoral project was supported by a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. At present she is a legal intern at the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.

Image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law