# In Family View there are 2 spouses. One is "Unknown Spouse." The same child is I get rid of the "Unknown Spouse" without messing up the child and all of its many descendants? **URL:** \ **Category:** RootsMagic\ **Tags:** question\ **Created:** [February 2, 2026, 5:24am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/in-family-view-there-are-2-spouses-one-is-unknown-spouse-the-same-child-is-i-get-rid-of-the-unknown-spouse-without-messing-up-the-child-and-all-of-its-many-descendants/15365 "2026-02-02T05:24:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tcluster](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/tcluster/32/1424_2.png) [@tcluster](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/tcluster)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:24am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/in-family-view-there-are-2-spouses-one-is-unknown-spouse-the-same-child-is-i-get-rid-of-the-unknown-spouse-without-messing-up-the-child-and-all-of-its-many-descendants/15365/1 "2026-02-02T05:24:22Z")
In Family View there are 2 spouses, one of whom is “Unknown Spouse.” The same child is shown for both spouses. How do I get rid of the “Unknown Spouse” without “messing up” the child who’s shown twice? ---
**Author:** ![tcluster](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/tcluster/32/1424_2.png) [@tcluster](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/tcluster)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:26am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/in-family-view-there-are-2-spouses-one-is-unknown-spouse-the-same-child-is-i-get-rid-of-the-unknown-spouse-without-messing-up-the-child-and-all-of-its-many-descendants/15365/2 "2026-02-02T05:26:45Z")
I should have mentioned that there is only one marriage fact. ---
**Author:** ![nkess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@nkess](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/nkess)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 5:56am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/in-family-view-there-are-2-spouses-one-is-unknown-spouse-the-same-child-is-i-get-rid-of-the-unknown-spouse-without-messing-up-the-child-and-all-of-its-many-descendants/15365/3 "2026-02-02T05:56:35Z")
BACK UP YOUR FILE FIRST-- Make sure the marriage fact is under the couple that have the names Go to the page in Family View that shows the child with the unknown Spouse Unlink Child from those parents Unlink hubby/wife from unknown spouse and you should be okay-- unknown spouse should just disappear BUT if not, delete them… ---
**Author:** ![thejerrybryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/thejerrybryan/32/404_2.png) [@thejerrybryan](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/thejerrybryan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/in-family-view-there-are-2-spouses-one-is-unknown-spouse-the-same-child-is-i-get-rid-of-the-unknown-spouse-without-messing-up-the-child-and-all-of-its-many-descendants/15365/4 "2026-02-02T13:14:39Z")
It’s a minor point, but you must have been in Descendant View. That’s because Family View never shows but one spouse. Suppose you have spouse A and spouse B. The problem is that the child is linked to two different couples. One of the couples is Spouse A and Spouse B. The other couple is Spouse A and unknown. It may sound illogical or impossible to have a “couple” consisting of only one person, but RM does work that way for single parent families. A person in RM is never actually the child of a mother or a father.. A person in RM is always the child of a couple, even if it is a one person couple. Since the child is already linked to both couples, all you need to do to solve the problem is to unlink the child from Spouse A and unknown. No relinking will be required nor will any unlinking of Spouse A and unknown be required. Follow the directions from [nkess](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/nkess) to unlink the child from spouse A and unknown. In this particular situation, you will then be done. Unlinking the child from spouse A and unknown will also automatically unlink spouse A and unknown. There are situations that are very similar where the second unlink for the spouses might be required, but this is not one of them. ---
**Author:** ![tcluster](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/tcluster/32/1424_2.png) [@tcluster](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/tcluster)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2026, 4:01am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/in-family-view-there-are-2-spouses-one-is-unknown-spouse-the-same-child-is-i-get-rid-of-the-unknown-spouse-without-messing-up-the-child-and-all-of-its-many-descendants/15365/5 "2026-02-04T04:01:27Z")
Thanks so much to both of you. It worked exactly as you said it would Jerry. Now I just have to remember this… ---
**Author:** ![nkess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@nkess](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/nkess)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2026, 5:25am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/in-family-view-there-are-2-spouses-one-is-unknown-spouse-the-same-child-is-i-get-rid-of-the-unknown-spouse-without-messing-up-the-child-and-all-of-its-many-descendants/15365/6 "2026-02-04T05:25:54Z")
bookmark this conversation–under the 3 dots on the message and when it ask for the reminder mark never and it will be under your summary page