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All You Need To Know About Legitimacy Citizenship

All You Need To Know About Legitimacy Citizenship

In today’s society, a child born to unmarried parents are not subject to the same poor treatment or lack of legal rights that they once faced. However, some nationality laws tend to discriminate against children born to unmarried parents, mainly in regards to Jus Sanguinis. Jus Sanguinis is a policy that dictates that citizenship of an individual is determined by parental citizenship status. 
Many European countries prefer this method of determining citizenship. This method recognizes maternal blood as the basis for determining citizenship. The child’s paternity dictates their nationality through if the child is legitimate. If the child is born to unmarried parents, that child is supposed to be a citizen of the same country as the mother. Any child that is born to unmarried parents will have an extremely difficult time gaining citizenship to their father’s country if they are able to at all.
Many countries followed the rule of Jus Soli, or “right of soil” until the late 18th Century. Canada and the United States continue to follow this rule, which grants citizenship based on place of birth instead of parental citizenship. The law of soil allows for one to have no other connections to the country besides birthplace to achieve citizenship.
A parent’s birthplace is unimportant. Acknowledgment of paternity is not important. It does not matter if both or neither of the parents happen to be citizens of the United States. The United States does not recognize right of blood as a way of determining citizenship. 
Most European countries began using blood right to determine citizenship in the late 18th Century and have been using it since. Many countries combine the rules of right of blood and right of soil. 
Laws regarding the treatment of children born to unmarried parents has changed drastically within the last century. However, nationality laws that base citizenship on right of blood still treat children born to unmarried parents differently than legitimate children. The rule of blood holds the paternity of the child in the highest regard.

Understanding The Issues To Modern Legitimacy

Understanding The Issues To Modern Legitimacy

Modern day legitimacy issues are much
different from the issues that surrounded illegitimate children in inheritance rights
long ago.

 
Legal Considerations:


Most of the laws governing important policies
are equal when it comes to illegitimate or legitimate children. For centuries,
the two operated on completely different sets of laws. Illegitimate children
were even denied many of the basic civil rights that legitimate children had.

 

The number of children born to unmarried
parents became high enough that a demand for change was created. When it comes
to legal considerations, the basis for laws involving illegitimate children
stem from the 14th Amendmen
to the United States Constitution. In Levy v. Louisiana, the court determined that the children of a deceased woman
had a right to file a wrongful death suit in her name regardless of the fact
that they were illegitimate.
 
Reasons for Less Social Concern:


As the number of children born out of wedlock increases, the social concern
that follows unmarried parents diminishes. In the United States, about one in
four children born are born out of wedlock. That high number as well as several
other factors have helped remove the 
stigma.


Politics of Legitimacy:




Politics is one of the few places place that
legitimacy still matters. Traditional family values dictate that each home
should be made up of a married couple and their children. Gay couples and
single parent homes have no place in this equation. Politicians, especially
conservative ones tend to follow this old fashioned way of life. Many problems
in society are blamed on the erosion of the traditional family unit. These
problems include everything from gang violence to poor grades in school.

 

Many young unwed mothers are on Government assistance and politicians will often use this
as a jumping off point when attacking people who have children out of wedlock.
It is harder to use this argument against older, financially stable women who
choose to have children alone.
 
Implications of Donated Sperm:




Women who choose to use sperm donations to
have children are called single mothers by choice. Statistically, these women
are usually in their mid-30s to 40s and are successful in their careers. They
may reach the age where they want children and fear that age will soon prevent
them from being able to conceive. Even though they have circumstances that are
completely different from that of an unwed teenage mother, they are both
technically having children out of wedlock.

 

Citizenship:



Legally, legitimacy is still important when
it comes to determining a child’s citizenship. In the Untied States, a child’s
status is determined by 
Jus Soli, Latin for “place of birth.” If a child is
born in the United States, the child is automatically a citizen of the United
States. It doesn’t matter whether or not the mother and father are citizens of
the United States.

 

Many other countries prefer the method of Jus Sanguinis when
it comes to determining citizenship. Jus Sanguinis follows a rule of
determining a child’s citizenship status based on that of their parents. If a
child is legitimate, then they are legally citizens of their father’s country
of citizenship. If the child is illegitimate, then he or she is a citizen of
their mother’s country.

Legal Considerations You Must Know

Legal Considerations You Must Know

While modern illegitimate children have almost every right that legitimate children have, there are still some things that are unequal. In the past there were no child laws to protect children born out of wedlock. They were denied everything from certain civil rights to property rights. Child laws had to change as more unmarried women gave birth to children. 
Illegitimate children only used to be allowed to inherit property from their mother or her family unless the father had specified that the child receives something in his will. Now they are allowed to inherit property from both the mother and father.
Many changes in the child laws to protect illegitimate children are relatively new. However, the rise in the number of unwed mothers having children has led to lawmakers pushing for child laws that enforce equality for both legitimate and illegitimate children. 
The child laws that are legally followed now operate on the premise that children deserve support from both parents. One child law that still discriminates against illegitimate children relate to royalty 
While the number of illegitimate children increases constantly in the United States, there are many other countries throughout Europe that have seen large increases in children born out of wedlock as well.

Make Sure You Know The Reasons For Less Social Concern

Make Sure You Know The Reasons For Less Social Concern

With nearly half of all children in the United States being born out of wedlock, an unmarried mother is nearly as common as married one. As the number of women giving birth to children out of wedlock increases, so does the acceptance that society shows towards them.  
In 1960, only about 5 percent of the children in America were born out of wedlock. Mothers who had their children out of wedlock were rejected by society. That has changed dramatically for several reasons. While many politicians still hold to the belief that the breakdown of the nuclear family unit is one factor of America’s disintegrating society, a large percentage of the American public has no problem with women who have their children out of wedlock. 
One reason is that economically, women are more successful than ever before, making it possible for them to raise children without a partner to help financially. Many of these women have put childbearing on hold while they aggressively pursued their career goals. When they do want children, they may not have a serious partner with whom to realize their dream. As a result, they may decide to conceive on their own, whether with a sperm donor or a friend. 
While most people still feel that children are better off in a two-parent household, just as many are deciding that upbringing and general environment is key factors in a child’s well being whether or not they are born out of wedlock. There have been many studies done on the matter.
Some of these studies have connected later social problems in a child’s life with being born out of wedlock or in a single family home. However, the connection is not thought to be directly related to a single-parent household, whether or not the child was born out of wedlock.  

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