What is Legitimation Under Family Law?

Definition

• By definition in family law proceedings, legitimation is the process that a man must go through to establish legal parenthood and responsibility for a child that he fathered with a woman he was not married to at the time of the child’s birth. If the biological parents of a child are married at the time of birth, legal rights and parenthood are automatically granted. A father must go through the legitimation process to be granted legal rights if the child was born out of wedlock.
  
  

Historical Background

• Laws governing legitimation have existed in some form for centuries. The Romans allowed only the children of concubines the right to legitimation, requiring the completion of a written document and the consent of the children to accomplish it. The early Catholic Church based its approach to legitimation on Roman law, but refined it to cover any children, as long as the natural parents agreed to get married. Legitimation was often used by royalty to bring illegitimate children into the family or to secure an heir to a throne.
  
  

Costs Involved

• The fee for filing and processing legitimation forms varies by state and often by individual county. As of June 2010, the Illinois Department of Public Health charges a $15 fee per child for processing. The State of Georgia has a basic filing fee of $82.50, but if the mother has not signed a consent form there will be an additional charge for the sheriff to serve her the petition. Covington County in Alabama charges $15 per child while Autauga County, Alabama charges $25 with the consent of the mother.
  
  

Benefits

• Legitimation provides the child and the father several legal rights and benefits. The child gains the right to inherit the father’s estate and assets. The father’s full medical history can be revealed to the child. The father gains full legal rights as a parent to make decisions regarding the child’s welfare. The father assumes full parental legal obligations to support and care for the child. The child gains the right to sue in the case of the father’s wrongful death.
  
  

U.S. State Laws

• State laws differ on the procedures for legitimation of a child. North Carolina requires that the parents get married or that the father files an action to legitimize through a special court proceeding. In Georgia, the completion of a single form acknowledges paternity and provides legitimation as long as both parents agree. In Texas, a man legitimizes a child by marriage, obtaining a court order, being named as the father on the birth certificate, or by filing paternity papers with the Bureau of Vital Statistics.