Salesforce Platform Developer Practice Exam

What happens to the object linked by a lookup field when the parent object is deleted?

1. Orphaned

2. Reparented to another account

3. Flagged by workflow rule

4. Sent to a queue for reassociation

The correct answer is: Orphaned

When a parent object is deleted, the object linked by a lookup field is considered orphaned. This means that the child object retains its existence in the database but loses its association with the parent object. In a lookup relationship, the relationship is not enforced with the same level of dependency as it is in master-detail relationships. Therefore, the child record continues to exist independently and remains in the database; it simply is no longer linked to its parent. In contrast, in other types of relationships or scenarios, such as master-detail relationships, the child record would be deleted along with the parent. However, in this case, since the relationship is a lookup, the child remains intact despite losing the reference to the parent. This behavior is crucial when designing data models because it allows for more flexibility in how records are managed, while still providing the ability to relate objects to each other when needed.