Bermuda Consolidated Legislation

BERMUDA
1933 : 24

LEGITIMACY ACT 1933

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1 Interpretation

2 Legitimation if father domiciled in Bermuda when he marries mother of illegitimate person; registration

3 Legitimacy of children of certain void marriages

4 Rights of legitimated per sons to take interests in property

5 Succession on intestacy of legitimated persons and their issue

6 Legitimated person dying before marriage of parents

7 Personal rights and obli gations of legitimated per sons

8 Recognition of foreign law legitimation where father not domiciled in Bermuda when he marries mother of illegitimate person

9 [repealed by 1974:5]

10 Savings

SCHEDULE

Registration of births of legiti mated persons

[22 April 1933]

[preamble and words of enactment omitted]

Interpretation

1 For the purposes of this Act, unless the context otherwise re quires—

"date of legitimation" means the date of the marriage leading to the legitimation, or, where the marriage occurred before 22 April 1933 then that date;

"disposition" means an assurance of any interest in property by any instrument, whether inter vivos or by will;

"intestate" includes a person who leaves a will but dies intestate as to some beneficial interest in his real or personal estate;

"legitimated person" means a person legitimated by this Act;

"will" includes codicil.

Legitimation if father domiciled in Bermuda when he marries mother of illegitimate person; registration

2 (1) Subject to this section, where the parents of an illegitimate person marry or have married one another whether before, on or after 22 April 1933, the marriage shall, if the father of the illegitimate person was or is at the date of the marriage domiciled in Bermuda, render such ille gitimate person, if living, legitimate from 22 April 1933, or from the date of the marriage, whichever last happens.

(2) In respect of a person who was illegitimate at the time of his birth and whose father or mother was married to a third person at the time of his birth, subsection (1) shall have effect from the 1 April 1965, or from the date of the marriage, whichever is the later date.

(3) The legitimation of a person under this Act does not enable him or his spouse, children or remoter issue to take any interest in real or personal property save as is hereafter in this Act expressly provided.

(4) The Schedule shall have effect with respect to the re-regis tration of the births of legitimated persons.

Legitimacy of children of certain void marriages

3 (1) Subject to this section, the child of a void marriage, whether born before or after the 1 April 1965, shall be treated as the legitimate child of his parents if at the time of the act of intercourse resulting in the birth (or at the time of the celebration of the marriage if later) both or either of the parties reasonably believed that the marriage was valid.

(2) This section applies only where the father of the child was domiciled in Bermuda at the time of the birth or, if he died before the birth, was so domiciled immediately before his death.

(3) This section does not affect any rights under the intestacy of a person who died before the 1 April 1965, and does not affect the op-
eration or construction of any disposition coming into operation before the said date.

(4) In this section, "void marriage" means a marriage which is declared to be null and void under section 28 of the Marriage Act 1944 [title 27 item 1].

Rights of legitimated persons to take interests in property

4 (1) Subject to this Act, a legitimated person and his spouse, children or more remote issue shall be entitled to take any interest—

(a) in the estate of an intestate dying after the date of le gitimation;

(b) under any disposition coming into operation after the date of legitimation,

in like manner as if the legitimated person had been born legitimate.

(2) Where the right to any property, real or personal, depends on the relative seniority of the children of any person, and those children include one or more legitimated persons, the legitimated person or per sons shall rank as if he or they had been born on the day when he or they became legitimated by virtue of this Act, and if more than one such legitimated person became legitimated at the same time they shall rank as between themselves in order of seniority.

(3) This section applies only if and so far as a contrary inten tion is not expressed in the disposition, and shall have effect subject to the terms of the disposition and to the provisions therein contained.

Succession on intestacy of legitimated persons and their issue

5 Where a legitimated person or a child or remoter issue of a le gitimated person dies intestate in respect of all or any of his real or per sonal property, the same persons shall be entitled to take the same in terests therein as they would have been entitled to take if the legitimated person had been born legitimate.

Legitimated person dying before marriage of parents

6 Where an illegitimate person dies after 21 April 1933 and before the marriage of his parents leaving any spouse, children or remoter issue living at the date of such marriage, then, if that person would, if living at the time of the marriage of his parents, have become a legitimated per son, the provisions of this Act with respect to the taking of interests in property by, or in succession to, the spouse, children and remoter issue of a legitimated person shall apply as if such person as aforesaid had been a legitimated person and the date of the marriage of his parents had been the date of legitimation.

Personal rights and obligations of legitimated persons

7 A legitimated person shall have the same rights and shall be un der the same obligations in respect of the maintenance and support of himself or of any other person as if he had been born legitimate.

Recognition of foreign law legitimation where father not domiciled in Bermuda when he marries mother of illegitimate person

8 (1) Where the parents of an illegitimate person marry or have married one another, whether before, on or after 22 April 1933, and the father of the illegitimate person was or is, at the time of the marriage, domiciled in a country other than Bermuda, by the law of which the ille gitimate person became legitimated by virtue of such subsequent mar riage, that person, if living, shall in Bermuda be recognized as having been so legitimated from 22 April 1933, or from the date of the marriage, whichever last happens, notwithstanding that his father was not at the time of the birth of such person domiciled in a country in which legiti mation by subsequent marriage was permitted by law.

(2) All the provisions of this Act relating to legitimated persons and to the taking of interests in property by or in succession to a legiti mated person and the spouse, children and remoter issue of a legiti mated person shall apply in the case of a person recognized as having been legitimated under this section, or who would, had he survived the marriage of his parents, have been so recognized; and, accordingly, this Act shall have effect as if references therein to a legitimated person in cluded a person so recognized as having been legitimated.

(3) For the purposes of this section "country" includes any part of Her Majesty's dominions as well as a foreign country.

9 [repealed by 1974:5]

Savings

10 (1) Nothing in this Act shall affect the succession to any dignity or title of honour or render any person capable of succeeding to or transmitting a right to succeed to any such dignity or title.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall affect the operation or construction of any disposition coming into operation before 22 April 1933, or affect any right under the intestacy of a person dying before 22 April 1933.

SCHEDULE

Registration of Births of Legitimated Persons

1 The Registrar-General may, on production of such evidence as appears to him to be satisfactory, authorize at any time the reregistration of the birth of a legitimated person whose birth is already registered un der the Registration Acts, and such re-registration shall be effected in such manner and at such place as the Registrar-General may prescribe:

Provided that the Registrar-General shall not authorize the re-registration of the birth of any such person in any case where informa tion with a view to obtaining such re-registration is not furnished to him by both parents, unless—

(a) the name of a person acknowledging himself to be the father of the legitimated person has been entered in the register; or

(b) the paternity of the legitimated person has been estab lished by an affiliation order or otherwise by a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction.

2 It shall be the duty of the parents of a legitimated person, or in cases where re-registration can be effected on information furnished by one parent and one of the parents is dead, of the surviving parent, within the time hereinafter specified, to furnish to the Registrar-General infor mation with a view to obtaining the re-registration of the birth of that person, that is to say—

(a) if the marriage took place before 22 April 1933, within six months of such commencement;

(b) if the marriage takes place after 21 April 1933, within three months after the date of the marriage.

3 Where the parents, or either of them, fail to furnish the neces sary information within the time limited for the purpose, the Registrar-General may at any time after the expiration of that time require the par ents of a person whom he believes to have been legitimated by virtue of this Act, or either of them, to give him such information concerning the matter as he may consider necessary, verified in such a manner as he may direct, and for that purpose to attend personally either at a regis trar's office or at any other place appointed by him within such time, not being less than seven days after the receipt of the notice, as may be specified in the notice.

4 The failure of the parents or either of them to furnish informa tion as required by this schedule in respect of any legitimated person shall not affect the legitimation of that person.

5 No fee for re-registration under this schedule shall be charged if the necessary information for the purpose is furnished within the time above specified; but in any other case there shall be charged in respect of such re-registration such fee as may be prescribed under the Govern ment Fees Act 1965 [title 15 item 18].