Can Zakat be given to one's own relatives?

Zakat can generally be given to eligible relatives such as siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and married daughters or sons who are themselves poor, and doing so also earns the extra reward of maintaining family ties. It cannot be given to one's own parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, or spouse, since a person is already responsible for supporting them. The recipient must genuinely qualify as poor/needy under the categories mentioned in the Quran; it's best to verify eligibility case by case, ideally with guidance from a scholar for less clear situations.