Heirship and Children Born Out of Wedlock
The Illinois Probate Act says that, if you die unmarried and without a Will, all of your probate assets pass to your descendants. But what happens if you were never married? How does a child born to unmarried parents prove heirship?
That's obviously pretty easy if the child is trying to inherit from his or her mother, since a birth certificate would show the relationship. It gets trickier when the child is trying to inherit from his or her father. Illinois law (ยง2-2 of the Probate Act) sets forth the applicable standards -- basically the rule is that a child born out of wedlock "is heir of his father and of any paternal ancestor and of any person from whom his father might have inherited, if living" if...
1. the decedent has acknowledged paternity of the child OR
2. during his lifetime or after his death the decedent was adjudged to be the father of the child.
The standard of proof here is "clear and convincing evidence," except in cases where there was an adjudication of parentage during the decedent's lifetime -- in that case, all that's needed is an authenticated copy of that judgment.
