Filiation

In civil law

The descent of son or daughter, with regard to his or her father, mother, and their ancestors. Nature always points out the mother by evident signs, and, whether married or not, she is always certain, — mater semper certa est, etiamsi vulgo conceperit. There is not the same certainty with regard to the father, and the relation may not know, or may sumption to serve as a foundation for paternity and filiation. When the mother is or has been married, her husband is presumed to be the father of the children born during the coverture, or within a competent time afterwards, whether they were conceived during the coverture or not, — pater is eat quern, nuptiae demonstrant. In the Common Law. The establishment of the paternity of a bastard.