Does a child born before the parents marry become legitimate when they marry?
Legitimacy Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
Yes. If the parents of a child born outside marriage later marry each other, and the father is domiciled in Kenya at the date of the marriage, the child (if living) becomes legitimate from the date of the marriage. The parents are expected to give the Registrar-General information to re-register the birth within 3 months of the marriage, and re-registration within that time is free. Separately, the Children Act gives both parents equal parental responsibility whether the child was born within or outside marriage.
- Deadline
- Re-registration information: within 3 months after the date of the marriage.
- Deadline
- No fee if the information is given within the 3 months; after that, a fee (capped at 10 shillings in the Act) may be charged.
- Where
- The Registrar-General (civil registration) to re-register the birth; the High Court for a declaration of legitimacy
Steps
- After the wedding, both parents (or the surviving parent where one has died and the law allows) give the Registrar-General the information to re-register the child's birth, within 3 months of the marriage.
- The Registrar-General can authorise re-registration on satisfactory evidence. If only one parent gives the information, it can still go ahead where the father's name is already on the birth register, paternity was settled by a court, or there is a declaration of legitimacy.
- Anyone claiming that they (or a parent or ancestor) were legitimated can petition the High Court for a decree declaring them the legitimate child of their parents.
- A copy of the petition and its affidavit must be delivered to the Attorney-General at least one month before it is filed; the Attorney-General is a respondent.
Watch out
- Missing the 3-month window does not undo the legitimation; it only affects the re-registration.
- A legitimated child has the same rights and duties on maintenance and support as a child born legitimate.
- Under this Act, property rights run from the date of legitimation: the child shares in estates of people who die intestate after that date and in gifts or wills that take effect after it.
- The Children Act, 2022 says both parents share parental responsibility equally whether the child was born within or outside wedlock.
Who this covers
- The child's parents marry each other (before or after the Act began) and the father is domiciled in Kenya at the date of the marriage.
- If the father was domiciled in another country at the time of the marriage, the Act has a separate rule for children legitimated under that country's law.
Official sources (2)
- Legitimacy Act (Cap. 145), Revised Edition 1983 [1967] new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Children Act (No. 29 of 2022) new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026