C.M. v. J.M.

LOCASCIO, J.S.C.

What happens when a husband is led to believe that children born during his marriage are his own, when, in fact, they are products of an ongoing affair between his wife and her paramour? This case examines the “Heart Balm” Act, the “outrageousness” required for a Ruprecht emotional distress claim, and whether such a claim extends to a non-spouse who is concededly the biological father of such children.

On February 27, 1998, plaintiff C.M. filed a divorce complaint against her husband, J.M. On March 10, 1998, based upon the following facts, J.M. filed a third-party complaint…