The Inheritance of The Natural (The Illegitimate) Son in Tunisian Law

Abstract

Children, whether they are legitimate or natural (Illegitimate) children, are considered the fundamental unit and the first seed of society. Society is rectified or corrupted according to their development and upbringing. Therefore, guaranteeing their rights is the basis on which a balanced and distinguished society is built. Accordingly, the Tunisian legislator worked to resolve the situation of a special category of children known as natural children. This paper deals with the material rights the Tunisian legislator has guaranteed the natural son and the efforts made to enable him to inherit from his father, which were considered inadequate compared to the legitimate son.
The paper adopted the analytical approach, by discussing the natural son’s right to inherit from his mother and father according to the Personal Status Code. It also discussed cases where the natural son was deprived of inheritance from his father’s side under the application of the 1998 law and the position of jurists on depriving the natural son of inheritance. We find that the Tunisian legislator guaranteed the son’s natural right to the inheritance from his mother and her relatives and enabled him to inherit from his father, if he proves his filiation under Chapter 68 of the Personal Status Code, and deprived him of this right if he proved his lineage under the 1998 law, which was exposed to criticism from jurists.
The research recommends that the Tunisian legislator should intervene again and review the provisions he has enacted to achieve the purpose for which they were set. This is by enabling the natural son whose filiation is proven to be entitled to the inheritance of his father and to equate him with the legitimate son and the adopted son. The study also recommends that he should work to redeem the natural son’s material rights, represented in obtaining his right to his father’s inheritance, which Tunisian legislation stipulates depriving him of.