filius nullius

Filius Nullius

[Latin, A son of nobody.] An illegitimate child who had few legal rights under the Common Law.

Laws have broadened the legal rights of illegitimate children who, in the language of some statutes, are referred to as nonmarital children.

Cross-references

Illegitimacy.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

filius nullius

‘son of no one’, a bastard.
Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006
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“It is by no means a necessary consequence, returned the other, winking, with a shrewd look around the bar room; “there is such a thing, I suppose you know, in law as a filius nullius.”
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Regarded as 'filius nullius' or the son of no one, they were unable to inherit real property and barred from the priesthood.
The Legitimacy of Bastards
Children born out of wedlock were deemed "filius nullius" or child and heir of no family, bearing no legally recognized relationship with either parent.
The U.S. and the international children's rights crusade: leader or laggard?

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