A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF LEGITIMACY AND LEGITIMIZATION UNDER NIGERIA FAMILY LAW

A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF LEGITIMACY AND LEGITIMIZATION UNDER NIGERIA FAMILY LAW

Abstract

This long essay is concerned with the concept of legitimacy, which is an important concept, as it determines the status of a child in relation to the society, while a legitimate child is conferred with the rights and duties of a legitimate child, which includes right to maintenance, succession among other rights, an illegitimate child is denied of these right by virtue of the fact of his illegitimate birth and he remain so, until and unless he is legitimated either by the subsequent marriage of the parents, or by acknowledgement of paternity by the father, the absence of which the child will be regarded as an illegitimate child, with the resultant social discrimination that will be melted out on him by members of the larger society.

This essay is therefore poised to giving a voice to illegitimate children in the society, by examining the concept itself, and the discrimation which an illegitimate child is being faced with; it examines the ways of legitimating an illegitimate child, in order to remove the discrimination, so that he will be accorded with the same status as a legitimate child.

Chapter one gives a general introduction of the work, it traces the origin of illegitimacy which appearances can be seen in the Holy Bible and the Holy Qu’ran,and which also dates back to our traditional societies, where an illegitimate child is seen more or less like a social outcast, and is treated like the child of nobody, it also discusses all the variables necessary to fully appreciate the concept, while chapter two talked about the concept of legitimacy under both customary and English law, it discusses the importance of a legitimate status, it also discusses illegitimacy, and the need to legitimize an illegitimate child, in other to remove the social stigma attached to that status.

legitimization was specifically discussed in chapter three, which can either be by the subsequent marriage of the parents of the child which can either be by statutory law, or by customary law, and the necessary conditions which must be met, Acknowledgement of paternity as a means of legitimation was also discussed with the condition precedent before a child will be said to have been acknowledged by the father

Chapter four discusses the effect of legitimation on an otherwise illegitimate child, which includes the rights and the duties of a legitimized child to the parents and the rights and duties of the parents to a legitimated child as when there is a right there must be a corresponding duty. Chapter five which is the concluding part of the work contains the findings of the work and includes the necessary recommendations.

Table of Content

CONTENTS
COVER PAGE………………i
CERTIFICATION…………ii
ABSTRACT………………….iii
DEDICATION………………………………………
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………….v
TABLE OF CASES……………………………vi
TABLE OF STATUTES……………………….vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………….viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………ix

CHAPTER 1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0.0:INTRODUCTION 1
1.1.0:BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 3
1.2.0:OBJECTIVE OF STUDY 5
1.3.0:FOCUS OF STUDY 6
1.4.0:SCOPE OF STUDY 7
1.5.0:METHODOLOGY 7
1.6.0:LITERATURE REVIEW 7
1.7.0:DEFINITION OF TERMS 12
1.8.0:CONCLUSION 15

CHAPTER 2
LEGITIMACY
2.0.0:INTRODUCTION 16
2.1.0:CONCEPT OF LEGITIMACY 16
2.2.0:LEGITIMACY UNDER NIGERIAN CUSTOMARY LAW 18
2.3.0:LEGITIMACY UNDER ENGLISH LAW 21
2.4.0:LEGITIMACY OF CHILDREN OF VOID MARRIAGE 22
2.5.0:LEGITIMACY OF CHILDREN OF A VOIDABLE MARRIAGE 24
2.6.0:ILLEGITIMACY 25
2.7.0:DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEGITIMATE AND ILLEGITIMATE CHILD 28
2.7.0:OTHER INSTANCES OF LEGITIMACY 30
2.8.0: CONCLUSION 30

CHAPTER 3
LEGITIMATION
3.0.0:INTRODUCTION 32
3.1.0:LEGITIMATION BY SUBSEQUENT STATUTORY LAW MARRIAGE.33
3.2.0:LEGITIMATION BY SUBSEQUENT CUSTOMARY LAW MARRIAGE.36
3.3.0:LEGITIMATION BY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 41
3.4.0:CONCLUSION 50

CHAPTER 4
EFFECT OF LEGITIMATION
4.0.0:INTRODUCTION 51
4.1.0:EFFECT OF A LEGITIMATION 51
4.2.0:RIGHTS OF A LEGITIMIZED CHILD 52
4.3.0:DUTIES OF A PARENT TO A LEGITIMIZED CHILD 55
4.4.0:DUTIES OF A LEGITIMIZED CHILD TO THE PARENT 64
4.5.0:CONSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO LEGITIMATION 65
4.6.0:CONCLUSION 67

CHAPTER 5
GENERAL CONCLUSION
5.0.0:CONCLUSION 69
5.1.0:RECOMMENDATION 70
BIBLIOGRAPHY 73
BOOKS 73.