In the lines as many degrees are counted as there are generations or persons, deducting the progenitor.
In the direct line the ascent is made only to the trunk. Thus the son is one degree removed from the father, two from the grandfather, and three from the great-grandfather.
In the collateral line, the ascent is made up to the common trunk, and then a descent to the person with whom the computation is made. Therefore the brother is two degrees removed from the brother, three from the uncle, brother of his father or mother, four from the first cousins, and so forth.
History —Civil Code, 1930, § 881.