The FindLaw Legal Dictionary – free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries. Legitimacy is an old concept in traditional Western common law regarding the status of children at birth. Illegitimate children, children born to unmarried parents, were often referred to as bastards or children of love. The purpose of this concept was related to the inheritance of paternal succession. Today, this concept of legitimacy in relation to the status of the child in general has fallen into disuse. Legitimacy is also a term sometimes used in criminal law or other areas of law. In particular, it is sometimes used in this context to distinguish that an action may be legitimate but not legal, or vice versa. In simpler reasoning, laws should be followed because they are the right thing to do, or rather, legitimate. According to this logic, the law is sometimes not the right thing to do, or rather illegitimate. When used as a verb, it means to do or legitimize something.
In simpler terms, it means doing something right or legal. For example, legitimizing a child means giving that child born to unmarried parents the same legitimately recognized status as a child born to married parents. legitim m (feminine singular legitima, legitims masculine plural, feminine plural legitimes) Abogado.com The #1 Spanish legal site for consumers Are you a lawyer? Visit our professional website » LawInfo.com National Directory of Law Societies and Consumer Legal Resources At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the leading source of free legal information and resources on the Internet. Contact us. In civil and civil law, the legitimate (legitima portio), also called compulsory part or legal part, of the estate of a deceased person is the part of the estate from which he cannot inherit his children or parents without sufficient legal reason. The word comes from the French héritier legitimate, which means “legitimate patrimony”. FindLaw.com Free and reliable legal information for consumers and legal professionals Legitimate has several legal meanings. When used as an adjective, it means legal or right.
It may also refer to a person with a legal parentage or legitimate problem, meaning they were not born out of wedlock. In other words, his parents were married at birth. The applicable rules are now set out in the Wills and Estates (Jersey) Act 1993. The provisions relating to the Belgian period and the rights of the parties are set out in Article 7 of the 1993 Act. Three situations can occur upon the death of the deceased: Note: The fraction used to calculate legitimacy depends on the number of persons entitled to the mandatory share. Illegitimate children receive half of the estate if all are not satisfied. Illegitimate parents, who are excluded from all but the surviving spouse, also receive the default half of all. After 1989, Louisiana law did not provide for mandatory participation until the deceased`s children were under the age of 24 or were permanently unable to support themselves, which was called prohibited or prohibited. Otherwise, the problem of a deceased person may be completely disinherited. This amendment is essentially the importation of the common law doctrine of freedom of testation, but is on the verge of abolishing compulsory inheritance altogether because it is expressly prohibited by Article XII, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution. [1] In Brazil, the offspring (alternately parents or grandparents) and the spouse must receive at least 50% between them. [ref.
needed]. In Scotland, legitimacy is the right to issue (including the adult edition) at least a defined share of the value of the testator`s movable estate. The share is half if the deceased did not leave a relic (widow or widower), or one third if there was a relic. For example, if a testator has two children and no spouse and leaves everything to one of them in his will, the other would be entitled to half of the legitimate fund, or half of the total net value of the movable patrimony. (Or half a third if there was a spouse.) Legitimate is also referred to as a pair of bait or part of the equipment (scots bairn “child”). [2]. Legitimate is essentially the right of the surviving spouse, partner and/or descendants (direct descendants, usually children or grandchildren) of the deceased to inherit part of the testator`s movable property. The guiding principle of Jersey`s inheritance laws in the past was the preservation of family wealth. In the 16th century, there was an almost complete ban on the freedom to leave wealth to people outside the family.
A lot has happened since then. Now, a testator (the person who drafts the will) is generally allowed to bequeath his real estate to whomever he wants, subject to certain rights such as the dowry. However, as is often surprising to learn, there are still restrictions that limit a person`s testamentary freedom with respect to his or her movable property. Thus, legitimate children always receive half of the estate, which is divided equally among them. The surviving spouse receives an equal share of one legitimate child, unless there is only one legitimate child, in which case he or she receives a quarter of the estate. Illegitimate children receive half of the share given to legitimate children. Legitimate parents or ascendants are excluded from legitimate children or descendants, but not from illegitimate children, and in this case receive half of the estate. The surviving spouse or illegitimate children, if they coincide with the parents or ascendants, receive a quarter of the estate. If everyone agrees, the surviving spouse`s share is reduced to one-eighth of the estate. legitimate (neutral singular legitimate, defined singular and plural legitime) In Louisiana, the situation was different until the passage of Act No. 788 of 1989. Previously, legitimacy worked in Louisiana to prevent a parent from completely disinheriting their children, who were and are called forced heirs.
If the testator left the descendants in the form of a child, this expense must receive at least 25% of the deceased`s estate. If there were two or more children, they must receive at least 50% between them. Similar provisions prevent a deceased person whose parents are alive from disinheriting them. Legitimacy is usually a legal fraction of the deceased`s gross assets and passes as common property in equal undivided shares to the next of kin of the deceased. Legitimacy cannot be violated to give a spouse or other beneficiary a larger share of the estate. Therefore, if a testator has children and leaves a will, it is illegal for the testator to override the law by means of a special gift that exhausts the estate or by designating his spouse or another person as the sole beneficiary. It is called a preterite when it results from an omission and a disinheritance, when the heir is expressly private. In cases where a testator exceeds his testamentary freedoms and leaves a movable will that does not respect the principles of the Belgian language, the injured party or parties may bring an action. This is reduced as the testament ad legitimum modum.
The request for the reduction of a will ad legitimum modum must be made within one year and the day following the date of death. If such a request is made, all parties who would have been entitled to Legitimate will receive what they are entitled to. The bequests made by the testator in the will are then, as far as possible, paid out of the available lot, possibly with a proportional reduction of all successions. Copyright © 2022, Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Household effects are objects for personal, decorative or domestic use, usually located around the marital home, such as furniture. Not included, for example, are motor vehicles, cash, items specifically bequeathed to another person and items valued at more than £10,000.00.