Also known as: illegitimacy · bastardy proceeding
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The status of a person born outside a lawful marriage who has not been legitimated by the parents.
Brian Bailey fathered a child out of wedlock with Beatrice Brown. State law gave nonmarital children only six years to sue for support while allowing marital children to seek support indefinitely. Beatrice filed on behalf of the child after the period expired. The court applied intermediate scrutiny and struck down the limit because the state failed to show it substantially advanced any interest in avoiding stale claims.
Bobby Brady died without a will. State law barred his nonmarital son Benito Benitez from any share of the estate even though paternity was undisputed. Benito's marital siblings claimed everything. The court held the absolute bar unconstitutional under equal protection because it penalized the child for the parents' conduct without a substantial relation to any important state interest.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Brenda Booth sought to establish rights tied to her nonmarital birth status in a challenge involving private consensual conduct. The court reviewed whether the bastardy classification could survive scrutiny when linked to fundamental liberty interests.
Boubacar Bah challenged a statute imposing different support obligations on nonmarital fathers versus mothers. The court examined whether the bastardy distinction could be justified under intermediate scrutiny as substantially related to an important governmental objective.
Beacon Bank denied benefits to a nonmarital child of an employee under a policy favoring legitimate offspring. The court applied heightened scrutiny to the bastardy classification and required the bank to show a substantial relationship to an important objective.
Bristol Steel's employee handbook excluded nonmarital children from certain family benefits. The court assessed whether the bastardy distinction in the policy could withstand review when tied to state interests in potential life.
Classifications based on illegitimacy receive intermediate scrutiny. The state must demonstrate that the classification is substantially related to an important governmental interest.
Supporting sources
No. An absolute bar on paternal intestate inheritance by nonmarital children violates equal protection because it punishes children for their parents' conduct and lacks a substantial relationship to any important state interest.
Supporting sources
Yes when marital children face no comparable limit. The disparate deadline fails intermediate scrutiny unless the state shows it is substantially related to preventing stale or fraudulent claims.
Yes. A requirement that paternity be formally established during the father's lifetime is substantially related to the important interest in orderly estate administration and preventing fraudulent claims.
Supporting sources
…not lead it to repeat the process at will. The Judiciary, including this Court, is the most vulnerable and comes nearest to illegitimacy when it deals with judge-made constitutional law having little or no cognizable roots in the language or even the design of the Constitution. Realizing that the present construction of the…