Legitimacy (family law)
Legitimacy, in Western common law, was used and coined some 800 years ago to create status of children born to parents who were legally married to each other at a time when only men made laws; and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, illegitimacy (or bastardy) is a derogatory term coined to demote the status of a child born outside marriage, so that a man wouldn't have to pay or otherwise take care of him/her if he didn't want to.
The consequences of "illegitimacy" have pertained mainly to a child's rights of inheritance to the putative father's estate, his right to sustenance growing up and the child's right to bear the father's surname or title. "Illegitimacy" has also had negative consequences for the mother and child's right to support from the putative father. See Affiliation (family law).
As of 2012, the proportions of children born outside marriage, taking the median across countries, range from some 66% in Latin America to 40% in the United States and the European Union, and some 5% in East Asia. In addition, the "illegitimacy" rate in Western societies is increased slightly by 1-2% of children who were ostensibly born to couples but were in fact covertly conceived by a different biological father.