Germany plans to force mothers to name men they had sex with in paternity cases

Justice minister says law must provide more safeguards for fathers in paternity cases

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Mothers may be required to reveal details of adultery and the names of men they have slept with in certain paternity cases, if a proposed law is passed in Germany.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the suggested measure would apply in cases where men sought compensation after providing for a child they had been led to believe was their son or daughter.

In such circumstances a woman would be obliged to provide information about “men who have lain with her during the conception period” and would only be able to refuse if there were “serious reasons” for doing so.

“We want to offer more legal support to ‘false’ fathers seeking financial compensation,” Mr Maas said in a statement following a discussion of the plans.

“In cases where the paternity test was carried out very late, it may have lead to undue financial damage to family life over many years. The aim is to clearly regulate the legal right of the apparent father for the mother to name the alleged biological father of the child.”

The draft measure would allow men to more easily claim for maintenance costs from the child’s actual father, in payment for the support provided for the child up to a limit of two years.

It would be up to the courts to decide if a woman’s reasons for concealing the identities of her former lover or lovers were viable enough, Maas said.

The German High Court previously ruled in March 2015 that there was no legal basis to compel mothers of children born out of adultery to name the biological father.

The ruling followed a high-profile case in which a mother refused to reveal the name of her lover after it was suggested her husband might not be the biological father and had a right to claim compensation for child support.

In April, Germany’s courts ruled that children cannot force men they suspect of being their biological fathers to undergo a DNA test, and can only oblige their legal fathers to undergo the testing.