ln 2014 Italy’s Supreme Court ruled on a paternity case that had begun nearly twenty years earlier, concerning a paternity test ruled admissible despite the alleged father being deceased.
The case in question involves a relationship between a wealthy man and his secretary and director of domestic staff, which resulted in a daughter being born but never recognized as the man’s child. In 1953 the man died and shortly thereafter his only heir passed away aswell. The gap between deaths was in fact so brief that the entirety of his estate was left to New York University and the British Institute.
The daughter started the process of having paternity declared so that she would be included in the succession. After a few years, the mother also died, which left the daughter to carry on the proceedings alone. The crux of the problem was that determining paternity, and whether the legal proceedings could continue, was unclear given the father’s death.
The plaintiff carried on nevertheless, requesting a DNA examination of the alleged biological father and mother, after the bodies were exhumed.
At the behest of the court judge, the plaintiff also requested the appointment of a conservator of the estate who, in the absence of legal heirs (her half-brother having died), represented the inheritance in court.
The Decision of the Supreme Court
According to the Supreme Court, Italian law seeks to remove obstacles, limits and prohibitions in determining parentage, giving priority to the interest of the child with respect to their biological descent, regardless of the nature of the relationship in which the parentage occurred or the time elapsed since birth or conception.
Therefore, the court ruled that the legal proceedings must continue even if the father was no longer alive.
Cassation Sentence No. 19790 of 2014