Also known as: children out of wedlock · child born out of wedlock · children born out of wedlock · illegitimate child · nonmarital child
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A child born to parents who are not married to each other. The status triggers constitutional protections for an established parent-child relationship and governs rules for inheritance and class gifts.
After the mother died, state officials removed the child from the apartment where Carlos Castillo had lived with the mother and child for years. Castillo immediately requested a hearing to prove his fitness as the surviving parent. The court ordered the hearing because the established family unit created a protected liberty interest that could not be severed without process.
Catherine Carter's will left the residue to her 'children.' Her genetic son Clifford Cox, born outside marriage, had lived with her until age ten before she died. The court included Cox in the class because the will contained no contrary language and the genetic parent created the gift.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Charles Cunningham died intestate. Chloe Chen later produced DNA evidence that her son was Cunningham's child. The probate court denied the claim because no paternity adjudication had occurred while Cunningham was alive, satisfying the state's interest in orderly estate administration.
A married couple used assisted reproduction to conceive twins after the husband's death. The court held the twins were the husband's issue for intestacy purposes even though born after his death, allowing them to inherit as his nonmarital children would under modern statutes.
Cassandra Cooper obtained a court order establishing that Sherman Gordon was her father and requiring support payments. After Gordon died intestate, the court allowed Cooper to inherit because the lifetime adjudication satisfied the state's evidentiary requirements for nonmarital children.
During a paternity action, the state used peremptory challenges to remove all male jurors from the venire. The court held the strikes unconstitutional because they rested on the assumption that men would favor fathers of children born out of wedlock over mothers.
Due process protects the established family unit. The state cannot remove the child upon the mother's death without notice and a hearing on the father's fitness.
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The child is included unless the will or surrounding circumstances show a contrary intention by the transferor.
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Yes. The requirement is substantially related to the state's interest in orderly estate administration and preventing fraudulent claims after death.
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Modern statutes treat nonmarital children as issue when paternity is established, removing historical barriers that once excluded them entirely.
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Intermediate scrutiny applies. The classification must be substantially related to an important governmental interest such as preventing fraud in probate.
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…Mona on the authority of the negative implications of § 12 of the Illinois Probate Act, which provides in relevant part: "An illegitimate child is heir of his mother and of any maternal ancestor, and of any person from whom his mother might have inherited, if living; and the lawful issue of an illegitimate person shall represent…