Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia
My child was born in 1987.. The father signed the birth certificate.. 39 months later he had a DNA test done on this child which proved he was the father...by 99.99% ... Just this year May 2012.. My child passed away..now he believes he gets half of whatever the wrongful death suit is offering..but she had a child..never married...but the father of the child legitimized his child..my child's father did NOT legitimize her....does he stand to inherit anything from this wrongful death suit? Do I have to have him in court while I sue on this matter of death?
1 Answer from Attorneys
According to the US Supreme Court, the "father" has no claim because he failed to legitimize his child. (Discuss this with your lawyer):
Parham v. Hughes, 441 U.S. 347 (1979)
Parham v. Hughes
No. 78-3
Argued January 15, 1979
Decided April 24, 1979
441 U.S. 347
Syllabus
A Georgia statute, while permitting the mother of an illegitimate child, or the father if he has legitimated the child and there is no mother, to sue for the wrongful death of the child, precludes a father who has not legitimated a child from so suing. Appellant, the father of an illegitimate child, whom he had not legitimated and who was killed, along with the mother, in an automobile accident, sued for the child's wrongful death, and the Georgia trial court, denying a summary judgment for the defendant (appellee), held that the statute violated both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed, holding that the statutory classification was rationally related to three specified legitimate state interests.
Held: The judgment is affirmed.
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