ABSTRACT
In a judgement handed down in 2019, the Court of Protection made an order concerning a man in the late stages of a degenerative neurological disease. The patient, NLH, had at an earlier stage of his illness made it clear to a social worker and a manager at his nursing home that he wanted his child to be made aware of this disease and that since the child may have inherited the illness, he should have the opportunity in due course to decide for himself whether to be tested. At that stage, no action was taken to inform NLH's child. Later, a Family Court declared that the outcome of DNA tests on NLH would be of the utmost importance for any of his children. This would not only allow disputes over paternity to be settled, but also (should NLH's paternity be confirmed), any child of his could at some stage be made aware of his or her father's heritable disease.
