The offspring follows the condition of the father.

Explanation

In questions of status, descent, and inheritance, the child's condition follows the father's — applied in determining legitimacy, citizenship, and rights of inheritance.

Where this applies

• A child born to a citizen father abroad is presumed to follow the father's citizenship status for purposes of nationality at common law.
• In a historical inheritance dispute, the court applies the rule that a legitimate child takes the father's legal status — whether noble or common — in determining inheritance rights.
• A question arises about whether a child born to a free father and an enslaved mother was free or enslaved, and the court applies the common-law rule that the child's condition follows the father's.

See also

• 4.2.1 The father is he whom the marriage indicates.