Ezra Vincent signed a paper acknowledging his daughter, and in 1971 the Supreme Court let his brothers and sisters take his whole estate

English common law called a child born outside marriage filius nullius, the child of no one, with no right to inherit from either parent. The Statute of Merton of 1235 defined a bastard as one "born before the marriage of his parents". England let such children inherit on a parent's intestacy only from the Family Law Reform Act 1969. In the United States the change came through the Supreme Court. On 20 May 1968, in Levy v. Louisiana, it ruled 6 to 3 that five children could sue over the death of their unmarried mother, Louise Levy. Justice Douglas wrote that such children "are not 'nonpersons.'" The same day, in Glona, it let a mother sue over the death of her son. Then came Ezra Vincent. His daughter Rita was born on 15 March 1962, and on 10 May 1962 he and her mother signed a public acknowledgment of paternity. He died without a will in 1968. Louisiana law gave his whole estate to his brothers and sisters, because an acknowledged child who was not legitimated could not inherit. On 29 March 1971, in Labine v. Vincent, the Supreme Court upheld that result 5 to 4. Justice Brennan, dissenting, wrote: "Louisiana punishes illegitimate children for the misdeeds of their parents." Six years later Trimble v. Gordon limited Labine.