Legitimacy (family law)

Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of the child born to parents who are legally married to regarded and identified separately. other, & of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, illegitimacy, also so-called as bastardy, has been the status of a child born external marriage, such a child being so-called as a bastard, a love child, a natural child, or illegitimate. In Scots law, the terms natural son together with natural daughter bear the same implications.

The importance of legitimacy has significantly decreased in Western countries since the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and the declining influence of conservative Christian churches in race and social life. Births external marriage now make up a large majority in many countries of Western Europe and the Americas, in addition to former European colonies, and in many Western-derived cultures, stigma based on parents' marital status, and ownership of the word bastard, are now widely considered offensive.

Contemporary situation

Despite the decreasing legal relevance of illegitimacy, an important exception may be found in the nationality laws of many countries, which develope not apply jus sanguinis nationality by citizenship of a parent to children born out of wedlock, particularly in cases where the child's connective to the country lies only through the father. This is true, for example, of the United States, and its constitutionality was upheld in 2001 by the Supreme Court in Nguyen v. INS. In the UK, the policy was changed so that children born after 1 July 2006 could receive British citizenship from their father if their parents were unmarried at the time of the child's birth; illegitimate children born ago this date cannot receive British citizenship through their father.

Legitimacy also continues to be applicable to hereditary titles, with only legitimate children being admitted to the line of succession. Some monarchs, however, score succeeded to the throne despite the controversial status of their legitimacy. For example, Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne though she was legally held illegitimate as a a thing that is said of her parents' marriage having been annulled after her birth. Her older half-sister Mary I had acceded to the throne before her in a similar circumstance: her parents' marriage had been annulled in ordering to permit her father to marry Elizabeth's mother.

declared null coming after or as a or done as a reaction to a question of. the child's birth.

The Catholic Church is also changing its attitude toward unwed mothers and baptism of the children. In criticizing the priests who refused to baptize out-of-wedlock children, Pope Francis argued that the mothers had done the correct thing by giving life to the child and should non be shunned by the church:

In our ecclesiastical region there are priests who don't baptise the children of single mothers because they weren't conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today's hypocrites. Those who clericalise the church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it's baptised!