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CIVIL CODE OF SAINT LUCIA
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CHAPTER THIRD ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN

Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2022)

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CHAPTER THIRD
ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN

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    205.   Children born out of marriage are legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their father and mother. (Amended by Act 4 of 1988)

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    206.   Such legitimation takes place even in favour of the deceased children who have left legitimate issue, and in that case it benefits such issue.

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    207.   Children legitimated by a subsequent marriage have the same rights as if they were born of such marriage.

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    208.   The forced or voluntary acknowledgment by the father or mother of their illegitimate child, gives the latter the right to demand maintenance from each of them, according to circumstances.

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    209.   An illegitimate child has a right to establish judicially his or her claim of paternity or maternity, and the proof thereof is made by writings or testimony, under the conditions and restrictions set forth in articles 200, 201 and 202, and the petition to establish his or her claim is presented in the manner set forth in article 203. (Amended by Act 34 of 1956)

BOOK EIGHTH
PARENTAL AUTHORITY

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    210.   Subject to the powers of the Court to order otherwise, a child remains subject to the authority of his or her father and mother until his or her majority or his marriage. (Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210A.   Where in any proceeding before any Court the custody or upbringing of a minor, or the administration of any property belonging to or held on trust for a minor, or the application of the income thereof, is in question, the Court in deciding that question shall regard the welfare of the minor as the first and paramount consideration, and shall not take into consideration whether from any other point of view the claim of the father, or any right under this Code possessed by the father, in respect of such custody, upbringing, administration or application is superior to that of the mother, or the claim of the mother is superior to that of the father. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210B.   The mother of a minor shall have the like powers to apply to the Court in respect of any matter affecting the minor as are possessed by the father. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210C.   The Court may upon the application of the mother of any minor make such order as it may think fit regarding the custody of such minor and the right of access thereto of either parent, having regard to the welfare of the minor and to the conduct of the parents, and to the wishes as well of the mother as of the father, and may alter, vary, or discharge such order on the application of either parent, or after the death of either parent, of any tutor under this Code, and in every case may make such order respecting the costs of the mother and the liability of the father for the same or otherwise as to costs as it may think just. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210D.   

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      (1)     The power of the Court under article 210C to make an order as to the custody of the minor and the right of access thereto may be exercised notwithstanding that the mother of the minor is then residing with the father of the minor.

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      (2)     Where the Court, under the said article makes an order giving the custody of the minor to the mother, then whether or not the mother is then residing with the father, the Court may further order that the father shall pay to the mother towards the maintenance of the minor such weekly or other periodical sum as the Court, having regard to the means of the father, may think reasonable.

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      (3)     No such order, whether for custody or maintenance, shall be enforceable and no liability thereunder shall accrue while the mother resides with the father, and any such order shall cease to have effect if for a period of 3 months after it is made the mother of the minor continues to reside with the father.

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      (4)     Any order so made may, on the application either of the father or the mother of the minor, be varied or discharged by a subsequent order.

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           (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210E.   

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      (1)     Any person for the time being under an obligation to make payments in pursuance of any order for the payment of money under the provisions of this Chapter, shall give notice of any change of address to such person (if any) as may be specified in the order, and any person failing without reasonable excuse to give such notice shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10.

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      (2)     Where the Court has made any such order, the Court shall, in addition to any other powers for enforcing compliance with the order, have power in any case where there is any pension or income payable to the person against whom the order is made and capable of being attached, after giving the person by whom the pension or income is payable an opportunity of being heard, to order that such part as the Court may think fit of any such pension or income, be attached and paid to the person named by the Court, and such further order shall be an authority to the person by whom such pension or income is payable to make the payment so ordered, and the receipt of the person to whom the payment is ordered to be made shall be a good discharge to the person by whom the pension or income is payable. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210F.   Where the parent of a child applies to the Court for a writ or order for the production of the child, and the Court is of opinion that the parent has abandoned or deserted the child or that he or she has otherwise so conducted himself or herself that the Court should refuse to enforce his or her right to the custody of the child, the Court may in its discretion decline to issue the writ or make the order. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210G.   If at the time of the application for a writ or order for the production of the child the child is being brought up by another person, the Court may in its discretion, if it orders the child to be given up to the parent, further order that the parent shall pay to such person, the whole of the costs properly incurred in bringing up the child, or such portion thereof as shall seem to the Court to be just and reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances of the case. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210H.   Where a parent has—

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      (a)     abandoned or deserted his or her child; or

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      (b)     allowed his or her child to be brought up by another person at that person's expense, for such a length of time and under such circumstances as to satisfy the Court that the parent was unmindful of his or her parental duties,

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    the Court shall not make an order for the delivery of the child to the parent unless the parent has satisfied the Court that, having regard to the welfare of the child, he or she is a fit person to have the custody of the child. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210I.   Upon any application by the parent for the production or custody of a child, if the Court is of opinion that the parent ought not to have the custody of the child, and that the child is being brought up in a different religion to that in which the parent has a legal right to require that the child should be brought up, the Court shall have power to make such order as it may think fit to secure that the child be brought up in the religion in which the parent has a legal right to require that the child should be brought up. Nothing in this Code contained shall interfere with or affect the power of the Court to consult the wishes of the child in considering what order ought to be made, or diminish the right which any child now possesses to the exercise of its own free choice. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210J.   In articles 210F to 210I inclusive the expression “parent” of a child includes any person at law liable to maintain such child or entitled to his custody, and “person” includes any school or institution. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    210K.   No agreement contained in any separation deed made between the father and mother of a minor, shall be held to be invalid by reason only of its providing that the father of such minor shall give up the custody or control thereof to the mother: Provided always that no Court shall enforce any such agreement, if the Court shall be of opinion that it will not be for the benefit of the minor to give effect thereto. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)

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    211.   (Repealed by Act 34 of 1956)

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    212.   The father and mother of an unmarried minor have over him or her a right of reasonable and moderate correction, which may be delegated to and exercised by those to whom his or her education has been entrusted. (Amended by Act 34 of 1956)

BOOK NINTH
MINORITY AND TUTORSHIP

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