Hi Riley, there are so many different types of telescope and different observers preferences there's a good chance you'll buy the wrong thing without doing some detective work, even at the risk of tipping off the recipient to the upcoming gift.
He might like a 10" or 12" Dobsonian for looking at faint nebulae and galaxies, he might like a computerized fork mounted Schmidt Cassegrain or he might prefer a computerized equatorial mount to put a refractor on and possibly do some imaging. If he wanted one of the more expensive options you could perhaps buy the mount or the telescope and he could get the other part.
If you're near an area where a club has a viewing night open to the public you might ask your relative if you could attend one with them and see what scopes they get excited about.............or just ask what they want
