Father gets rights to question son's 'lover'

A retired soldier has won the right to question a man, who claims he was his deceased son's life partner, about the nature of their relationship, after a ruling made in the Cape High Court on Tuesday.

James Middleton contends that his son Phillip was not involved in a life partnership with French chef Dominique Ripoll-Dausa, who has launched a legal battle for a share of Phillip Middleton's multimillion-rand estate.

Should Ripoll-Dausa succeed in his constitutional court challenge against legislation that, he says, unfairly discriminates against the rights of gays to inherit their partners' estates, he will stand to inherit a substantial portion of Middleton's estate.