A man has dragged his estranged wife to High Court after discovering that their eight-year-old son was not his, the child was fathered by someone his wife had an affair with.
The man who sued his estranged wife for ‘every penny’ he spent on the boy, also wants damages to compensate for distress.
The husband and wife had argued over whether the boy should be told who his real father was. The man said he should be told. His estranged wife was against such a move.
Mr Justice Cohen said the boy must not be told whom his real father was, ‘until the time was right’. Hence, the man was barred from publicizing the name of the real child’s biological father.
Justice Cohen said a social worker would give advice and decide when the boy should be given the information.
The judge has outlined his decision in a written ruling following the latest round of litigation at private hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
He said no-one involved could be named in media reports of the case.
Detail of the case had emerged in July when the judge published an earlier ruling.
The judge said the man had been devastated to learn that he was not the boy’s father and had launched a ‘raft’ of litigation. He said the woman was ‘full of remorse’.