Legitimate and Illegitimate Children

The legal status of a child is defined by the marital status of the parents. A legitimate
child is one that is born in marriage by parents whose union is legally recognized as a marriage.
A legitimate child is conceived before the parents are legally divorced. On the other hand, an
illegitimate child is one who is born by parents who are not married legally at the time of the
child’s birth (HG Experts, 2021). An illegitimate child can also be defined as a child who is born
out of wedlock. Such a child remains illegitimate even if the parents married after their birth.
Historically, legitimate and illegitimate children had different rights (HG Experts, 2021).
Illegitimate children were not entitled to various rights over the estates of their parents. They also
occupied a low social status in society. Pregnant mothers aimed to get married before the
children were born. This would ensure that the child would be considered legitimate. There was
no legal duty owed by the father of an illegitimate child to the child. The children could not
inherit property from their fathers.
In recent years, there has been a huge change in the law relating to legitimate and
illegitimate children. Illegitimate children have similar rights to legitimate children. Many states
in the United States amended their laws to ensure that illegitimate children are granted the same
legal rights as legitimate children (HG Experts, 2021). The Supreme Court pronounced itself on
the issue in the 1970s. The court ruled that laws used to deny illegitimate children various rights
were unconstitutional and in contravention of the Equal Protection Clause in the Constitution.

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References

HG Experts. (2021). Inheritance Rights for Legitimate and Illegitimate
Children. https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/inheritance-rights-for-legitimate-and-
illegitimate-children-47186