State Ex Rel. Lewis v. Lutheran Social Services

The answer to the first question presented has its roots in English common law which, in its earliest form, held that illegitimate children were nullius films — the children of no one. They thus came within the doctrine of films populi, which provided that their custody was in the hands of the parish.

All jurisdictions now recognize that the mother, if a suitable person, is the natural guardian of her illegitimate child and, therefore, has a legal right to its custody, care and control superior to that of the father or any other person, unless it is otherwise provided by statute.1 The need for…