Legitimacy Act 1976
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1976 c. 31 |
| Year | 1976 |
(1) A child is legitimate by virtue of a civil partnership between the natural parents of the child if, had the civil partnership been a marriage (and all other circumstances were the same) , the child would have been legitimate at common law by virtue of the marriage.(2) The presumption of common law that a child born to a woman during her marriage to a man is also the natural child of her spouse applies equally in relation to a child born to a woman during her civil partnership with a man.(1) The child of a void marriage F39or a void civil partnership, whenever born, shall, subject to subsection (2) below and Schedule 1 to this Act, be treated as the legitimate child of his parents if at the time of F1the insemination resulting in the birth or, where there was no such insemination, the child’s conception(or at the time of the celebration of the marriageF40, or the formation of the civil partnership, if later) both or either of the parties reasonably believed that the marriage F41or civil partnership was valid.the father of the child was domiciled in England and Wales at the time of the birth, or if he died before the birth, was so domiciled immediately before his death, orif a woman is treated as the female parent of a child by virtue of section 42 or 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, that female parent was domiciled in England and Wales at the time of the birth, or if she died before the birth, was so domiciled immediately before her death.(3) It is hereby declared for the avoidance of doubt that subsection (1) above applies notwithstanding that the belief that the marriage F42or civil partnership was valid was due to a mistake as to law.(4) In relation to a child F43of a void marriage born after the coming into force of section 28 of the Family Law Reform Act 1987, F44or a child of a void civil partnership (whenever born) , it shall be presumed for the purposes of subsection (1) above, unless the contrary is shown, that one of the parties to the void marriage F45or civil partnership reasonably believed at the time of the insemination resulting in the birth or, where there was no such insemination, the child’s conception (or at the time of the celebration of the marriageF46, or the formation of the civil partnership, if later) that the marriage F47or civil partnership was valid.(5) Subsections (1) and (4) are to be read, in relation to the child of a void marriage which has resulted from the purported conversion of a civil partnership under section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 and regulations made under that section, as if the reference to the time of the celebration of the marriage was a reference to the date of the purported conversion of the civil partnership into a marriage.Subject to the following provisions of this Act, where the (a) a person (“the child”) has a parent (“the female parent”) by virtue of section 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (treatment provided to woman who agrees that second woman to be parent) ,(b) at the time of the child's birth, the female parent and the child's mother are F25neither married nor civil partners of each other,(c) the female parent and the child's mother subsequently F26marry or enter into a civil partnership, and(d) the female parent is at the date of F27the marriage or the formation of the civil partnership domiciled in England and Wales,(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Act, where the F28mother and father of an illegitimate person marry F53or become civil partners of one another and the father of the illegitimate person is not at the time of the marriage F54or civil partnership domiciled in England and Wales but is domiciled in a country by the law of which the illegitimate person became legitimated by virtue of such subsequent marriage F54or civil partnership, that person, if living, shall in England and Wales be recognised as having been so legitimated from the date of the marriage F54or civil partnership notwithstanding that, at the time of his birth, his father was domiciled in a country the law of which did not permit legitimation by subsequent marriage F54or civil partnership.a person (“the child”) has a parent (“the female parent”) by virtue of section 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (treatment provided to woman who agrees that second woman to be parent) ,at the time of the child's birth, the female parent and the child's mother are F31neither married nor civil partners of each other,the female parent and the child's mother subsequently F32marry or enter into a civil partnership, andthe female parent is not at the time of F33the marriage or the formation of the civil partnership
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