Born Outside Wedlock, Then and Now: When Father Does Not Accept You

The relevance in terms of inheritance of a child being born outside wedlock is not only of historical interest. Children born out of wedlock in Denmark gained the legal right to inherit from their biological father in 1938, but if a father denied paternity, for centuries he was almost certainly not formally identified as the father, often due to the strict legal requirements of proof of fatherhood used in court. Further, from 2008, a father has been able to de facto hinder inheritance for his child born outside the marriage he was in at the time of his death, to such an extent that these children can be considered the ‘new illegitimate children’. This chapter examines the space of action fathers are given by the legislator in these two periods of time. The similarities of this comparison, including an examination of the preparatory works, show surprising correlation and interesting perspectives.