Summary
The Status of Children Act (Chapter 130) of The Bahamas abolishes the common law distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, providing that the parent‑child relationship is determined irrespective of the parents’ marital status for all purposes of Bahamian law, and abolishing the rule of construction that words of relationship imply only legitimate relationship. The Act establishes nine rebuttable presumptions of paternity (including marriage, cohabitation, and various forms of acknowledgment) and sets out procedures for obtaining court declarations of paternity or parentage, including where no presumption applies. It empowers the Supreme Court to direct blood tests and draw adverse inferences upon refusal, and contains transitional provisions preserving prior law for dispositions and intestacies that occurred before the Act’s commencement.
Disposition
other
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