Salesforce Admin Certification Practice Test

What is a unique characteristic of Look-up relationships compared to Master-Detail relationships?

1. Child records must have a parent.

2. Roll-up summary fields can be created.

3. A parent record is not required.

4. Record deletion cascades to child records.

The correct answer is: A parent record is not required.

Look-up relationships allow one object to reference another object and create a relationship between them, but they are more flexible than Master-Detail relationships. One of the defining characteristics of Look-up relationships is that a parent record is not required for a child record to exist. This means that in a Look-up relationship, the child record can exist independently of the parent record. This independence contrasts with the nature of Master-Detail relationships, where the child record cannot stand alone and must always be associated with a parent record. In scenarios where data integrity and strict dependency are required between records, Master-Detail relationships are used, but when a more flexible approach is needed, Look-up relationships are preferred, allowing for records that can function autonomously. In summary, the ability for a child record to exist without a parent in a Look-up relationship is what distinguishes it from a Master-Detail relationship, making it the correct answer for this question.