In setting the stage for a lawsuit, the more than 800 Balli descendants asked to be legally acknowledged as his heirs.

The new law in 1662 meant that white fathers were no longer required to legally acknowledge, support, or emancipate their illegitimate children by slave women.

Today Aboriginal people are still awaiting their Treaty, and only 151 years later were their landrights legally acknowledged.

To be eligible for this visa, the couple does not actually have to have been legally married, but the Japanese parent must have legally acknowledged their offspring.

However, Countess Walewska's husband legally acknowledged him as his son.

"I would like to have my relationship acknowledged legally, so this seemed like the thing to do," said Ms. Chopra, 56, who has been with her partner for 16 years.

Legitimation: The legal process which a natural father can use to acknowledge legally his children who were born out of wedlock (outside of marriage).

Cordelia accepts him as another son and has him acknowledged legally as a member of the family.

Another notable Portuguese/Malay speaking group were the Mardijker people, which the VOC legally acknowledged as a separate ethnic group.

Owain had at least 13 children from his two wives and several more children born out of wedlock but legally acknowledged under Welsh tradition.