Prior to 1947, Canadian women who married non-British status men lost their Canadian status upon marriage; children were considered "property" of their fathers if born in wedlock, and property of their mothers if born out-of wedlock.
141) Although the distinction between "illegitimate" and "legitimate" children does not rise to the level of strict scrutiny, the United States Supreme Court used the standard of intermediate scrutiny in Trimble and Lalli and stated that intestate statutes that discriminate between children born in wedlock and out of wedlock must bear some substantial relationship to a legitimate state interest.
When the Court upheld the New York statute in Lalli, it stated that a state statute that differentiates between children born in wedlock and children born out of wedlock must bear a substantial relationship to the state's interest in "provid[ing] for the just and orderly disposition of property at death.
The reasons for distinguishing between children born in wedlock and out of wedlock are no longer valid.
Currently, children born in wedlock are registered as ''eldest son'' or ''eldest daughter'' and so on, but those born out of wedlock are registered as simply ''female'' or ''male.