Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

illegitimate child

A child that was neither born nor begotten in lawful wedlock nor later legitimized. ( At common law, such a child was considered the child of nobody (nullius falius) and had no name except what was gained by reputation. Being no one's child, an illegitimate child could not inherit, even from the mother, but statutes in most states changed this rule to allow maternal inheritance. - Also termed bastard; child out of wedlock; nonmarital child. Cf. BASTARD.