**Illegitimate** (adjective) — An outdated and now largely abolished legal term formerly used to describe a child born to parents who were not married to each other at the time of birth. In modern law across most jurisdictions, children have equal inheritance rights regardless of their parents' marital status, making this distinction legally irrelevant.
"Illegitimate" is an old-fashioned term that once meant a child born to unmarried parents. It's no longer used in modern estate planning law—and for good reason.
Historically, children born outside marriage had limited or no rights to inherit from their parents, particularly their fathers. Laws distinguished between "legitimate" children (born to married parents) and "illegitimate" children (born to unmarried parents), treating them very differently when it came to inheritance.
This has changed completely in most places. Modern inheritance law recognizes that children are children, regardless of whether their parents were married. In Australia, the UK, and most other jurisdictions, all children have equal rights to inherit from their parents' estates, whether those parents were married, never married, or divorced.
You won't see the term "illegitimate" in contemporary wills or estate planning documents. It's been replaced by more accurate and respectful language that focuses on the actual parent-child relationship, not the marital status of the parents.
⏱ When you'll encounter this term
When you're making a will, you don't need to worry about whether your children were born in or out of wedlock. The law treats all your children equally.
If you want to leave property to your children, you simply name them as beneficiaries. If you die without a will, your children will inherit according to the intestacy laws—and those laws don't distinguish between children based on their parents' marital status.
The only time you might encounter this outdated terminology is when dealing with very old wills or historical estate matters. Some wills written decades ago might use the term "legitimate children" or reference children "born in lawful wedlock." These phrases reflected the law as it existed at the time, but they've been superseded by modern reforms that eliminate discrimination against children based on their parents' relationship status.
If you're writing a will today, just refer to "my children" or name them individually. That's all that's needed—and it's inclusive of all your children regardless of when or how they were born.
**Related terms:** [Beneficiary](/dictionary/beneficiary), [Heir](/dictionary/heir), [Issue](/dictionary/issue), [Intestate succession](/dictionary/intestate-succession)
---
Learn More
Related Dictionary Terms
Common Questions