Pilane Godakandege Gimara of Galle did not deny that her husband had been born out of wedlock, and neither did his biological mother. However, in 1788, years after his death, Gimara was brought to the brink of economic ruin when her husband's relatives challenged his inheritance rights. Illegitimacy laws introduced by the Dutch East India Company threatened her right to retain her land rights. She did not deny the circumstances of Daniel's birth, but objected to a rescinding of property rights on those grounds. Why, it was asked in her appeal to a higher court, had her husband's relatives brought up the issue only now? How did ordinary men and women like her respond to new laws concerning nonmarital children in late eighteenth-century Galle? This was a period in which Dutch laws had potentially the most effect. In a final twist of events, Gimara's opponents were also denied any added inheritance. Marriage and inheritance, transactions of everyday life, were affected by the company's requirement for either a recognised customary marriage or registered marriage, without which births would be considered nonmarital.

Land ownership, inheritance and kinship are inseparable elements in the Sri Lankan context. A legal approach necessarily involves all three aspects. Observing family life and inheritance together is an expected outcome.