Legitimacy

The state Of being born in wedlock; that is, in a lawful manner.

The state of being bom in lawful marriage. See Bastard; Presumption; Parent and Child.

Lawful birth; the condition of being born in wedlock.

Lawfulness; in particular, the civil condition of a child born in lawful wedlock. Opposed, illegitimacy. Legitimate. 1, v. To confer a legal status upon: as, to legitimate a bastard. 2, adj. (1) Born in lawful wedlock, or within a competent time afterwards. Opposed, illegitimate. (2) Authorized, constitutional, or lawful: as, the legitimate government. Legitimation. Changing the civil status of a bastard to the status of a lawful child. Legitimatize; legitimize. To make lawful; to legitimate, q. v. In most of the States, subsequent marriage of the parents, and recognition by the father, legitimizes an illegitimate child. See Bastard.

Lawfulness; and, particularly, the status or civil condition of a child born in wedlock. Legitimate: lawful; authorized; made or done of right. Thus a child lawfully begotten is often, and an act of an agent within his power is sometimes, called legitimate. Legitimation: the act of changing the status of a bastard to that of a lawfully born child. This may be done by express statute, or, in some jurisdictions, by the marriage of the child's parents. Legitimacy deolaratiou act. The name of an English statute, 21 & 22 Vict, ch. 93, passed in 1858, which enabled any natural-born subject of the queen, or any person whose right to be deemed a naturalborn subject depends wholly or in part on his legitimacy, or on the validity of a marriage, being domiciled in England or Ireland, or claiming any real or personal estate situate in England, to apply by petition to the court for divorce and matrimonial causes, praying the court for a decree declaring that the petitioner is the legitimate child of his parents, and that the marriage of his father and mother, or of his grandfather and grandmother, was a valid marriage; or for a decree declaring either of the matters aforesaid; and also authorizing a similar proceeding to establish the validity of petitioner's marriage. Wharton.