CHILD

child. 1. A person under the age of majority. 2.Hist. At common law, a person who has not

reached the age of 14. 3. A boy or girl; a young person. 4. A son or daughter.

“The word ‘children’ is normally used to denote issue of the first generation only.” Restatement of Property § 267 cmt. c (1940).

5. A baby or fetus. See JUVENILE; MINOR. Pl. children.abortive child.Civil law. A stillborn child or a child born so prematurely that it cannot and does not survive 24 hours. abused child.A child who has been subjected to physical or mental neglect or harm. See child

abuse under ABUSE.adopted child.A child who has become the son or daughter of a parent or parents by virtue of

legal or equitable adoption; ADOPTEE. See ADOPTION.

afterborn child.A child born after execution of a will or after the time in which a class gift closes. — Also spelled after-born child. See afterborn heir under HEIR. Cf. posthumous child.

[Cases: Wills  524. C.J.S. Wills §§ 980–989, 991–993, 995–1004.]

battered child.A child upon whom physical or sexual abuse has been inflicted, usu. by a relative, caregiver, or close family friend. See child abuse under ABUSE; domestic violence under

VIOLENCE; BATTERED-CHILD SYNDROME.

biological child.See natural child.

child in need of supervision.A child who has committed an offense that only children can commit, such as being ungovernable and disobedient to parents, running away from home, violating a curfew, being habitually truant from school, violating age restrictions on the purchase or possession of liquor or tobacco, or the like. — Also termed person in need of supervision; minor in need of supervision. — Abbr. CHINS.

child out of wedlock.See illegitimate child.

child with disabilities.Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a child who needs special-education or related services because of (1) mental retardation, (2) a hearing, language, or visual impairment, (3) a serious emotional disturbance, or (4) another health impairment or specific learning disability. See INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.

delinquent child.A child who has committed an offense that would be a crime if committed by an adult. • A delinquent child may not be subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court if the child is under a statutory age. Cf. child in need of supervision. Cf. JUVENILE DELINQUENT.

[Cases: Infants  153. C.J.S. Infants §§ 33–35, 41–42, 64, 67.]

dependent child.A needy child who has been deprived of parental support or care because of the parent’s or other responsible person’s death, absence from the home, physical or mental incapacity, or (in some cases) unem-ployment. • This definition was formerly found in Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), 42 USCA § 606(a). When that program was replaced with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), the definition was eliminated although sections of TANF refer to it (see, e.g., 42 USCA § 672(h)).

deprived child.A child who (1) lacks proper parental care or control, subsistence, education, or other care and control for his or her physical, mental, or emotional well-being, (2) has been placed for care or adoption in violation of the law, (3) has been abandoned, or (4) is without a parent, guardian, or legal custodian. Unif. Juvenile Delinquency Act, 18 USCA §§ 5031 et seq. Cf.

neglected child.

disobedient child.See incorrigible child.

foster child.A child whose care and upbringing are entrusted to an adult other than the child’s natural or adoptive parents, usu. by an agency. • A foster child may receive informal, voluntary care by someone (often a grandparent, other relative, or neighbor) who enters into an agreement with the parent or who simply substitutes for the parent as necessary to ensure the child’s protection. More formally, the child may be part of the federal–state foster-care program that identifies, trains, and pays caregivers who will provide family care for children who lack parents or cannot safely remain with their biological parents. — Also termed (archaically) fosterling. See foster parent under PARENT. [Cases: Infants  226. C.J.S. Adoption of Persons §§ 10–12.] genetic child.See natural child (1).

handicapped child.A child who is mentally retarded, deaf or hearing-impaired, speech-impaired, blind or visually disabled, seriously emotionally disturbed, or orthopedically impaired, or who because of specific learning dis-abilities requires special education.

illegitimate child.A child who was not conceived or born in lawful wedlock, nor later legitimated. • At common law, such a child was considered the child of nobody (nullius filius) and had no name except one that was gained by reputation. Being no one’s child, an illegitimate child could not inherit, even from the mother, but all states now allow maternal inheritance. In cases such as Levy v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 68, 88 S.Ct. 1509 (1968), and Glona v. American Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co., 391 U.S. 73, 88 S.Ct. 1515 (1968), the Supreme Court held that limitations on a child’s right to inherit from his or her mother were unconstitutional. As a result, states changed their laws to permit full maternal inheritance. Full paternal inheritance is permitted if the child can prove paternity in accordance with state law (the proof varies from state to state). This burden of proof, uniquely imposed on an illegitimate child, is constitutionally permissible. Lalli v. Lalli, 439 U.S. 259, 99 S.Ct. 518 (1978). — Also termed bastard; child out of wedlock; nonmarital child;

(archaically) natural child. Cf. BASTARD. [Cases: Children Out-of-Wedlock  1. C.J.S. Children

Out-of-Wedlock §§ 2–11.]

incorrigible child.A child who refuses to obey his or her parents or guardians. — Also termed

disobedient child.

intended child.The child who is intended to result from a surrogacy contract. See surrogate parent under PARENT; surrogate mother under MOTHER; intentional parent under PARENT; legal father under FATHER; SURROGACY CONTRACT.

legitimate child. 1. At common law, a child conceived or born in lawful wedlock. 2. Modernly, a child conceived or born in lawful wedlock, or legitimated either by the parents’ later marriage or by a declaration or judgment of legitimation. [Cases: Children Out-of-Wedlock  1.

C.J.S. Children Out-of-Wedlock §§ 2–11.]

mantle child.Hist. A child born out of wedlock and later legitimated when the parents are

married, traditionally by standing under a cloak with the parents during the marriage ceremony.

“Our law … has no need to distinguish between various sorts of illegitimate children. A child is either a legitimate child or a bastard…. In the sharp controversy over this principle … the champion of what we may call the high-church party alleged that old English custom was in accord with the law of the church as defined by Alex-ander III. Probably there was some truth in this assertion. It is not unlikely that old custom, though it would not have held that the marriage in itself had any retroactive effect, allowed the parents on the occasion of their marriage to legitimate the already existing offspring of their union. The children were placed under the cloak which was spread over their parents during the marriage ceremony, and became ‘mantle children.’ We hear of this practice in Germany and France and Normandy; but we have here rather an act of adoption than a true legitimation … and it would not have fully satisfied the church.” 2 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I 397–98 (2d ed. 1899).

natural child. 1. A child by birth, as distinguished from an adopted child. — Also termed biological child; genetic child. 2. A child that is genetically related to the mother and father as opposed to a child conceived by donor insemination or by egg donation. 3.Archaic. An illegitimate child acknowledged by the father. 4.Archaic. An illegitimate child.

neglected child. 1. A child whose parents or legal custodians are unfit to care for him or her because of cruelty, immorality, or incapacity. [Cases: Infants  156.] 2. A child whose parents or legal custodians refuse to provide the necessary care and medical services for the child. Cf. deprived child.

nonmarital child.See illegitimate child.

posthumous child.A child born after a parent’s death. • Ordinarily, the phrase posthumous child suggests one born after the father’s death. But in at least one case, a legally dead pregnant woman was kept on life-support machines until the child could be safely delivered; so it is possible for a mother’s posthumous child to be born. Cf. afterborn child.quasi-posthumous child.Civil law. A child who becomes a direct heir of a grandfather or other

male ascendant because of the death of the child’s father.

special-needs child. 1. A child with medical problems or with a physical or emotional handicap. 2. A child that is likely to be unadoptable because of medical problems or physical or emotional handicaps, or by reason of age or ethnic background. See ADOPTION ASSISTANCE AND CHILD WELFARE ACT.

stepchild. The child of one’s spouse by a previous marriage. • A stepchild is generally not entitled to the same legal rights as a natural or adopted child. For example, a stepchild has no right to a share of an intestate stepparent’s property. [Cases: Parent and Child  14. C.J.S. Parent and

Child §§ 351–356.] unborn child.A child not yet born, esp. at the happening of some event. [Blacks Law 8th]