Does it count as a case of breaking relations with kin if you do not stay in touch with them for years but when you do meet the relationship is perfectly fine?
Yes, it counts as weak or poor relations with kin, which is very bad.
We must be always in contact with our relatives in usual way which are applied and accepted by our society e.g. visiting them, talking to them on phone, texting them, emailing them, writing to them etc.
Wassalam.