Is supplication or an annual visit sufficient for maintaining kinship ties with relatives (grandfather, maternal uncle, paternal uncle) whom you haven't visited for years, even though your parents visit them?

The grandfather, maternal uncle, and paternal uncle are relatives whose ties must be maintained, and it is forbidden to sever them. If it is possible to travel to maintain ties with them, then that is obligatory. Otherwise, it should be done through calls and visits, if possible. The Shari'ah has not specified the extent or manner of maintaining ties; rather, it has made custom the reference for this. Whatever people customarily consider to be maintaining ties is maintaining ties, and whatever they customarily consider to be severing ties is severing ties. It is important not to limit maintaining ties to phone calls, but rather to include visits and financial assistance if they are in need. The evidence mandating the maintenance of kinship ties includes both male and female relatives, and merely praying for them is not sufficient if other means are possible.