ILLEGITIMACY
The condition before the law, or the social status, of a child whose parents were not married to each other at the time of his or her birth.
The term nonmarital child is also used inter-
changeably with illegitimate child.
English COMMON LAW placed harsh penal-
ties on an illegitimate child, denying the child
inheritance and property rights.Modern law has
given the nonmarital child more rights but still
differentiates between the marital and nonmari-
tal status. In addition, a rising level of out-of-
wedlock births in the United States has drawn
the attention of politicians and policy makers.
Common Law and Illegitimacy
A child was considered to be illegitimate at
common law if the parents were not married to
each other at the time of the child’s birth even
though the parents were married later.
There was a common-law presumption that
a child born of a married woman was legitimate.
This presumption was rebuttable, however,
upon proof that her husband either was physi-
cally incapable of impregnating her or was
absent at the time of conception. In addition, a
child born of a marriage for which an ANNUL-
MENT was granted was considered illegitimate,
since an annulled marriage is void retroactively
from its beginning. Furthermore, if a man mar-
ried a second time while still legally married to
his first wife, a child born of the bigamous mar-
riage was illegitimate.
At common law an illegitimate child was a
FILLIUS NULLIUS (child of no one) and had no
parental inheritance rights. This deprivation was
based in part on societal and religious beliefs
concerning the sanctity of the marital relation-
ship, as well as the legal principles that property
rights were determined by blood relationships.
