### Legitimacy Ordinance 《婚生地位條例》

4. Rights of legitimated persons, etc. to take interests in property
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, a legitimated person and his spouse, children or remoter issue shall be entitled to take any interest—
(a) in the estate of an intestate dying after the date of legitimation; 
(b) under any disposition coming into operation after the date of legitimation, 
in like manner as if the legitimated person had been born legitimate. 
(2) Where the right to any property depends on the relative seniority of the children or any person, and those children include one or more legitimated persons, the legitimated person or persons shall rank as if he or they had been born on the day when he or they became legitimated, and if more than one such legitimated person became legitimated at the same time, they shall rank as between themselves in order of seniority. 
(3) This section applies only if and so far as a contrary intention is not expressed in the disposition, and shall have effect subject to the terms of the disposition and to the provisions therein contained. 
[cf. 1926 c. 60 s. 3 U.K.]

5. Succession on intestacy of legitimated persons and their issue
Where a legitimated person or a child or remoter issue of a legitimated person dies intestate in respect of all or any of his property, the same persons shall be entitled to take the same interests therein as they would have been entitled to take if the legitimated person had been born legitimate. 
[cf. 1926 c. 60 s. 4 U.K.]

6. Application to illegitimate person dying before marriage of parents
Where an illegitimate person dies after the commencement of this Ordinance and before the marriage of his parents leaving any spouse, children or remoter issue living at the date of such marriage, then, if that person would, if living at the time of the marriage of his parents, have become a legitimated person, the provisions of this Ordinance with respect to the taking of interests in property by, or in succession to, the spouse, children and remoter issue of a legitimated person shall apply as if such person as aforesaid had been a legitimated person and the date of the marriage of his parents had been the date of legitimation. 
[cf. 1926 c. 60 s. 5 U.K.]

### Legitimacy Ordinance 《婚生地位條例》

7. Personal rights and obligations of legitimated persons
A legitimated person shall have the same rights, and shall be under the same obligations in respect of the maintenance and support of himself or of any other person as if he had been born legitimate, and, subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, the provisions of any law relating to claims for damages, compensation, allowance, benefit, or otherwise by or in respect of a legitimate child shall apply in like manner in the case of a legitimated person. 
[cf. 1926 c. 60 s. 6 U.K.]

8. Provisions as to persons legitimated by extraneous law
(1) Where the parents of an illegitimate person marry or have married one another, whether before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, and the father of the illegitimate person was or is, at the time of the marriage, domiciled in or had a substantial connexion with a place outside Hong Kong, by the law of which the illegitimate person became legitimated by virtue of such subsequent marriage, that person, if living, shall in Hong Kong be recognized as having been so legitimated from the commencement of this Ordinance or from the date of the marriage, whichever last happens, notwithstanding that his father was not at the time of the birth of such person domiciled in or did not have a substantial connexion with a place in which legitimation by subsequent marriage was permitted by law. (Amended 23 of 1998 s. 2) 
(2) (Repealed 23 of 1998 s. 2)[cf. 1926 c. 60 s. 8(1) & (3) U.K.]

9. Application to persons recognized as having been legitimated
All the provisions of this Ordinance relating to legitimated persons and to the taking of interests in property by or in succession to a legitimated person and the spouse, children and remoter issue of a legitimated person shall apply in the case of a person recognized as having been legitimated under section 8, or who would, had he survived the marriage of his parents, have been so recognized; and accordingly this Ordinance shall have effect as if reference therein to a legitimated person included persons so recognized as having been legitimated. 
[cf. 1926 c. 60 s. 8(2) U.K.]

### Legitimacy Ordinance 《婚生地位條例》

11. Legitimacy of children of certain void marriages
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the child of a void marriage, whether born before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, shall be treated as the legitimate child of his parents if at the time of the conception of the child (or at the time of the celebration of the marriage if later) both or either of the parties reasonably believed that the marriage was valid. (Amended 17 of 1993 s. 19)
(2) This section applies, and applies only, where the father of the child was domiciled in or had a substantial connexion with Hong Kong at the time of the birth or, if he died before the birth, was so domiciled or had such a connexion immediately before his death. 
(3) In this section, void marriage (無效婚姻) means a marriage, not being voidable only, in respect of which the Court has or had jurisdiction to grant a decree of nullity, or would have or would have had such jurisdiction if the parties were domiciled in or had a substantial connexion with Hong Kong. 
(4) It is hereby declared for the avoidance of doubt that subsection (1) applies notwithstanding that the belief that the marriage was valid was due to a mistake as to law. (Added 17 of 1993 s. 19) 
(5) In relation to a child born after the coming into force of section 19 of the Parent and Child Ordinance (Cap. 429), it shall be presumed for the purposes of subsection (1), unless the contrary is shown, that one of the parties to the void marriage reasonably believed at the time of the conception of the child (or at the time of the celebration of the marriage if later) that the marriage was valid. (Added 17 of 1993 s. 19) [cf. 1976 c. 31 s. 1 U.K.]
[cf. 1959 c. 73 s. 2 U.K.]

12. Legitimacy of children of voidable marriages
Where a decree of nullity is granted in respect of a voidable marriage, any child who would have been the legitimate child of the parties to the marriage if it had been dissolved, instead of being annulled, at the date of the decree shall be deemed to be their legitimate child notwithstanding the annulment. 
[cf. 1965 c. 72 s. 11 U.K.]