CHILDREN - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

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CHILDRENAuthored

The Law Mind • 1225 words

Definition

Children, in legal usage, is not simply the plural of "child." It is a term of art carrying specific interpretive consequences that vary by context — most critically in wills, deeds, and statutes. Three dimensions define how courts and drafters have treated the word:

TESTAMENTARY AND DONATIVE INSTRUMENTS (wills and bequests): The general rule is that "children" means legitimate children only — those born in lawful wedlock. Natural (illegitimate) children are not included in a bequest or devise to "children" as a class unless the testator's contrary intent is manifest through express designation or necessary implication. A child en ventre sa mere (in the womb) at the time of the testator's death is generally included within a devise to "children."

DEEDS AND CONVEYANCES: In deed construction, "children" refers to the immediate descendants of a person in the ordinary sense — the first generation only — and is distinguished from the broader term "issue," which encompasses all lineal descendants. "Children" is treated as a word of purchase (identifying who takes), not a word of limitation (defining the duration or extent of an estate). This contrasts with "bodily heirs," which ordinarily functions as a word of limitation.

STATUTORY AND GENERAL USAGE: Outside donative instruments, "children" may be defined by statute to include illegitimate children, adopted children, or stepchildren, depending on jurisdiction and legislative purpose. Modern family law statutes have substantially expanded the default class in many jurisdictions.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Plural of child; plural of childer.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Plural of child.
Neither common definition signals the interpretive weight the word carries in legal instruments. In ordinary speech, "children" simply means young persons or one's offspring without regard to legitimacy or generation. In legal drafting, the same word triggers a default presumption of legitimacy, excludes illegitimate offspring unless otherwise indicated, and in deeds denotes only the first generation of descendants — consequences invisible to lay readers and potentially dispositive in estate litigation.

Common Confusion

LEGITIMATE VS. NATURAL CHILDREN
The historical default rule — that "children" means legitimate children only — has been significantly eroded by constitutional developments (equal protection) and statute. In older sources and historical instruments, the exclusion of natural children is the baseline. In modern law, particularly after Levy v. Louisiana and subsequent decisions, that exclusion in public benefits and statutory contexts has been largely dismantled, though will construction rules may lag in some jurisdictions. Research that spans historical and modern sources must account for this shift.

Why It Matters in Research

The word "children" is one of the most litigated terms in will and deed construction, and its meaning has shifted substantially across time and jurisdiction. Researchers using the Law Mind corpus should navigate the following:

HISTORICAL INSTRUMENTS: In wills and deeds predating the mid-twentieth century, "children" almost certainly meant legitimate children only. Researchers interpreting estates, trusts, or family settlements from this period should not import modern inclusive assumptions. The burden of proof to include illegitimate children was historically on the party asserting inclusion.

PURCHASE VS. LIMITATION: The distinction between "children" as a word of purchase and "bodily heirs" or "issue" as words of limitation is foundational to the Rule in Shelley's Case and fee tail analysis. Entries in historical deed registers that use "children" rather than "heirs of the body" may carry entirely different estate consequences. See related terms.

STATUTORY DISPLACEMENT: Modern statutes — adoption acts, illegitimacy reform statutes, intestacy codes — frequently define "children" expressly, displacing common-law defaults. Research into any statutory scheme requires checking that statute's own definitional section rather than relying on common-law dictionary definitions.

NEGLIGENCE CONTEXT: In tort law, "children" triggers a distinct standard of care analysis. Children are not held to the adult reasonable-person standard; courts apply an age-appropriate standard keyed to the child's age, experience, and intelligence. The encyclopedia entry on the standard of care for children is the relevant cross-reference.

CORPUS NAVIGATION: Rapalje & Lawrence provides minimal treatment of this term. The substantive analysis in the Law Mind corpus comes primarily from Bouvier's and Burrill's. Historical sources are largely silent on illegitimate children except to exclude them, and entirely silent on adopted children, who were not a recognized legal category at common law.

Historical Dictionary Support

The historical sources agree on the core propositions with minor variation in emphasis. Black's (both editions) and Burrill's converge on the legitimacy default: "children" in a bequest or devise means legitimate offspring, and natural children are excluded unless contrary intent appears. Black's first edition frames this as the "general rule" applicable to class gifts, while Burrill's adds the important deed-construction gloss — that in deeds, "children" signifies immediate descendants in the ordinary sense, as distinguished from "issue," unless accompanying expressions indicate a broader meaning. This purchase/limitation distinction is Burrill's most useful contribution to the analysis.

Bouvier's adds two significant points absent from the other sources. First, it extends the class to include a child en ventre sa mere at the time of the testator's death — a rule of inclusion that slightly softens the otherwise exclusionary framework. Second, Bouvier's states explicitly that "children" is a word of purchase while "bodily heirs" is a word of limitation, a distinction with significant consequences for estate analysis in deed construction. Rapalje & Lawrence's entry is too fragmentary to synthesize.

None of the historical sources address adopted children, children of unmarried partners recognized by acknowledgment or statute, or the constitutional dimension of illegitimacy classifications. These are purely modern developments that the historical dictionaries could not anticipate and do not reflect.

Jurisdictional Note

The legitimacy default and the purchase/limitation distinction were general common-law rules applied across American and English jurisdictions, but statutory reform has proceeded unevenly. Some jurisdictions have by statute included illegitimate children in intestacy and will construction by default; others retain the historical presumption absent clear contrary intent. Adoption and stepchild inclusion vary significantly by statute. Any research involving a specific jurisdiction requires consulting that jurisdiction's current intestacy code and any applicable will construction statutes alongside the historical common-law framework.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Negligence — Standard of Care for Children (The Law Mind Torts & Personal Injury Encyclopedia)
Child Support — Support for Children with Special Needs (The Law Mind Family Law Encyclopedia)
Family Law — Name Changes (Adults and Children in Family Proceedings) (The Law Mind Family Law Encyclopedia)

CHILDRENmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

Offspring; progeny. Le- gitimate offspring; children born in wedlock. 7 Ves. 458; 5 Scott, N. R. 990. The general rule is that "children, " in a bequest or devise, means legitimate children. Under a de- vise or bequest to children, as a class, natural chil- dren are not included, unless the testator's inten- tion to include them is manifest, either by express designation or necessary implication. 14 N. J. Eq. 159; 2 Paige, 11. In deeds, the word "children" signifies the im- mediate descendants a person, in the ordinary sense of the word, as contradistinguished from pears. But the term "children," in its natural sense, is a word of purchase, and is to be taken to have been used as such, unless there are other ex- pressions in the will showing that the testator in- tended to use it as a word of limitation only. 4 Paige, 293; 3 Wend. 503. In the natural and primary sense of the word "children," it implies immediate offspring, and, in its legal acceptation, is not a word of limitation, unless it is absolutely necessary so to construe it in order to give effect to the testator's intention. 39 Ala. 24. "Children" is ordinarily a word of description, limited to persons standing in the same relation, and has the same effect as if all the names were given; but heirs, in the absence of controlling or explanatory words, includes more remote descend- ants, and is to be applied per stirpes. 14 Allen, 2014.

CHILDRENmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

A general devise to the "children" of a testator includes a child en ventre sa mere at the time of the testator's death. 162 Ky. 320, 172 S. W. 693. The words, bodily heirs, used in a will or deed are words of limitation, and ordinarily will be given their technical meaning; the word "children" is a word of purchase. 162 Ky. 199, 172 S. W. 521. The law conclusively presumes that a woman is capable of bearing, and that a man is capable of begetting children until they die, regardless of their ages. 158 Ky 281, 164 S. W 939. When the testator intended to create an estate entail, the word "children" being used in the sense of heirs of the body. 152 Ky., 731, 154 S. W. 11. The word "children" must be read as equivalent to issue or descendants. 109 Ky. 752, 60 S. W. 915. As used in a Statute of "Descent and Distribution," is not necessarily confined te children and issue born in lawful wedlock. 2 Bush (Ky.) 157; 85 Ку. 671, 4 S. W. 685. The word "children" in a will does not include grandchildren unless it plainly appears from other provisions that such was the intention, or unless such a construction. is necessary to give effect to the devise. 91 Ky. 601; 7 Bush (Ky.) 645; 88 Ky. 83; 11 S. W. 424, The word "children" is ordinarily a word of purchase, but should not be so construed when such a construction is opposed to the intent of the grantor. 4 (Ky.) L. R. 256. The language, "children of my two bro- thers" denotes a class. 1 Ky. L. R. 766. In a devise to the testator's daughter and her children forever, the word "children" is used in the sense of heirs, and is a word of inheritance. 145 Ky. 544, 140 S. W. 559. It being apparent that the word "children" in a deed is used in the sense of "heirs," the word children will be construed to mean "heirs," and to be a word of limitation. 146 Ky. 519, 142 S. W. 1057. The word "children," as used in Stat., §1393, is not confined to children born in lawful wedlock, but may include children by adoption. 150 Ky. 751, 150 S. W. 1008. The word "children," as used in a will, was held to be equivalent to "heirs," and to be a word of inheritance and not of pur- chase. 151 Ky. 458, 152 S. W. 258. Unless it is necessary to effectuate the manifest intention of the testator after a survey of the whole will, the word heirs is a word of limitation, and the word "children" is a word of purchase. 78 S. W. 141. Men and women are presumed capable of having children as long as they live. Ky: 85, 170 8. W. 523. The word "children" will not ordinarily include grandchildren and will never be construed to embrace them except in cases where it is necessary to give that construc- tion to the word to effectuate the obvious intention of the testator. 7 Ky. Opin. 192. While the word "children" as a rule is used in deeds and wills as a word of purchase, it is frequently used as synonymous for "heirs." 130 Ky. 663, 113 S. W. 851. Under a will the word "children" construed to be words of inheritance and not of pur- chase, but equivalent to the word heirs. 65 8. W. 124. The words "child" or "children" when used as describing those who are to take under a will, construed to embrace grand- children. 90 Ky.; 4 Met. (Ky.) 341; 102 Ky. 443; 43 S. W. 416; 79 Ky. 227; 9 Dana (Ky.) 1. See also HEIRS AND CHILDREN. The words, "children surviving," as used in a will, mean the children surviving at the death of the testator. 10 Ky. Opin. 588. "Kindes kinder" is a German idiom corre- sponding with our words "Children's chil- dren." 152 Ky. 731, 154 S. W. 11. CHILDWIT (Sax.). A power to take a fine from a bondwoman gotten with child without the lord's consent. By custom in Essex county, England, every re- puted father of a bastard child was obliged to pay a small fine to the lord. This custom is known as child wit. Cowel.

CHILDRENmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888

(204)

CHILDRENn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

pl. of Child.

childrennoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

plural of child | plural of childer

Childrenname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A surname.

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