The Supreme Court on Friday held that children born out of “void or voidable” marriages are legitimate and can claim rights in parents’ properties under the Hindu Succession law. According to the Hindu law, the man and woman in a void marriage do not have the status of husband and wife. However, they have the status of husband and wife in the voidable marriage.

In a void marriage, no decree of nullity is required to annul the marriage. While, in a voidable marriage decree of nullity is required. The top court’s verdict came on a 2011 plea pertaining to the vexatious legal issue of whether non-marital children were entitled to a share in the ancestral property of their parents under Hindu laws.