What Are a Love Child's Rights?

Julie Andrews, the actress best known for playing Mary Poppins (DIS), Maria in The Sound of Music (NWS) and more recently Queen Clarisse Marie Renaldi in The Princess Diaries (DIS) has a reputation for being a proper English lady. It was a surprise to her fans to learn she is also a “love child.”

Andrews, 72, kept her illegitimate birth a secret for six decades. Her mother, Barbara, revealed the shocking truth to her then-teenage daughter, and the two did not discuss the matter much further. Andrews writes in her upcoming memoirs, “somehow I was able to push it to a dark corner of my mind.” 

Discovering you are a love child, or the product of an affair, is scenario that extends beyond Hollywood tell-alls. And in most cases, famous or no, the surprised parties often end up in court, according to Doug Brown, an attorney with Brody Wilkinson PC in Southport, Conn. “I do a lot of probate trust litigation work so I have to litigate a number of these matters and this is a common situation,” says Brown. While the estate laws vary from state to state, it is the law of paternity that controls the issue. (Females are generally more aware of which children they helped to birth.)

If you find out the man you’ve loved as your father doesn’t share your DNA, it is a good idea to check that his will reflects his intent to leave you an inheritance. “You need to make sure your name is listed in the estate plan, in the will or trust of the man that raised you,” says Jennifer Griffen, an attorney with Kendall Maddox and Associates in Birmingham, Ala. “If your name is listed then you are entitled. If it turns out you are not a biological child, and your name is not listed specifically on the will or trust, than it can be contested.” To further reduce the likelihood of a contested will, consider adult adoption, says Brown. “Adoption breaks the chain with your biological father and then you are legally the child of the father who adopts you.” An adult adoption can be completed by an attorney in a few weeks.