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How to Separate Contacts for Married Couples

Background: Many couples have been entered as a single contact: "John & Jane Doe" This is easy but creates problems. Consider that John is an examiner but Jane is not ...if we add "John & Jane" to the group of examiners then it seems that Jane is an examiner and that's just wrong.

Here's how to separate them...

First, find the lucky couple.  A good way is to use CiviCRM name search with an ampersand - just drop "&" into the name field and away you go!

So you've got the lucky couple.  Now its time to separate them.

 

STEP 1 - Make sure this is a Family Membership.  If not, there is no need to have the spouse name involved - you can just edit the contact name and be done.

 

Step 2 - Check for an Existing Contact.

We don't want to add a duplicate contact!  There is a handy spot on the summary page for relationships ... go there and type in the last name and make sure the spouse doesn't show up.  In this example we just find the couple and some unrelated folks. If the spouse does show up, great!  Select the spouse and mash that big blue Save button!

 

Step 3  - Add the Spouse

Using that same box, you can create a new contact.  A window will ask you to input just first name, last name and (optionally) an email.  Go ahead and do so.  

NOTE - its really best if the spouse has a separate email.  Its not absolutely necessary, but the de-duplication routines work a LOT better if email addresses are unique (not shared).  It might be best to leave the spouse email empty.

 

Step 4 - SAVE THE RELATIONSHIP!!

Yep, you gotta press that big blue save button.

 

Step 5 - Prepare to enter information

Now you can go ahead and edit the name of the primary contact ... remove the "&" and the spouse name.  Also, make sure you know the member #.  You can now just click on the spouse's name to be taken to that contact record.

 

Step 6  Check Status

On the new spouse contact record, just make sure the relationship is working.  If you look at the Membership tab you'll see some unique markers ... and note that you can't edit the membership (that has to be done on the primary contact's membership).

Step 7 - Enter Information for Spouse

There are a few things we need to enter for the spouse ... member #, address.  The member # is easy - you copied it from the spouse, right?  Addresses are best done using the "Use another contact's address" feature - just click that box and then search for the spouse.  You'll probably need to choose the "home" address.