Inheritance for Children Born Outside of Marriage

Alfa Nadia Paparang

doi:10.33756/eslaj.v8i1.18233

Inheritance for Children Born Outside of Marriage

Alfa Nadia Paparang

Abstract

Children born outside a valid marriage occupy an uncertain position in Indonesian inheritance law. This article examines how the inheritance of such children is determined under the Indonesian Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) and under Law Number 16 of 2019 amending Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage, read together with Constitutional Court Decision Number 46/PUU-VIII/2010. The study applies normative legal research using statutory and case approaches, and the legal materials are analysed through legal hermeneutics. It finds that, under the Civil Code, a child born outside marriage has no legal relationship with either parent unless recognition is given; once recognised, the child may inherit from the recognising parent, although the share is smaller than that of a legitimate child and varies according to the class of heirs who survive. Under the Marriage Law, by contrast, an unrecognised child born outside marriage automatically holds a civil relationship with the mother and the mother’s family, so that recognition by the mother is no longer required. A civil relationship with the father arises only where paternity is proved by science and technology or by other evidence recognised by law

Keywords

Civil Law; Extramarital Children; Inheritance Rights; Legal Recognition; Marriage Law

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.33756/eslaj.v8i1.18233