One embodiment of the present invention enables nodes or endpoints involved with synchronization of data items to determine which version of a data item (if any) has priority over another version of that same data item. Within the present embodiment, when a data item is modified by a node, it is presumed that the modified data item takes priority over the previous version of that data item. Therefore, the "descendant" data item (modified) takes precedence over its "ancestor" data item (previous version). By including this type of "pedigree" information with data items involved with synchronization between different nodes or endpoints, the present embodiment enables the endpoints to determine which version of a data item (if any) has priority over another version of that same data item.