Disowned son must pay father's care, German court rules

BERLIN - A German federal court has ruled that a man must pay the cost of old-age care for his late father, who severed ties with him more than four decades ago.

The Federal Court of Justice said Wednesday that the man, whom it didn't identify, must pay more than 9,000 euros ($12,300) to the city of Bremen to cover the costs of his father's care in a home for the elderly in the three years before his death in 2012.

The man's parents divorced in 1971, when he was 18. His father broke off contact the following year and later wrote a will naming a female acquaintance as his heir.

The court found that although the father broke off contact, he fulfilled his parental duties while his son was a minor.