A singer's son by a Suharto minister changed Indonesian law: children born outside marriage can now claim their fathers

Moerdiono was Indonesia's State Secretary under President Suharto from 1988 to 1998. On 20 December 1993 he married the singer Machica Mochtar in a siri ceremony, a religious marriage never registered with the state. Their son, Muhammad Iqbal Ramadhan, was born on 5 February 1996. The couple separated in 1998, and the boy did not see his father after he was two. Article 43(1) of the 1974 Marriage Law said a child born outside a registered marriage had civil ties only with the mother and her family. The boy could not inherit from or claim support from his father. Machica Mochtar petitioned the Constitutional Court in 2010^†. Moerdiono died in Singapore on 7 October 2011, aged 77, before the ruling. On 17 February 2012 the court ruled that such a child also has civil ties to the father if paternity is proven by science and technology or other legal evidence. Moerdiono's younger brother Margono objected and hired the lawyer OC Kaligis. Moerdiono's legal wife and children welcomed the ruling. The decision opened DNA-based claims to support and inheritance for children born outside registered marriages across Indonesia. Whether Iqbal later obtained recognition or a share of his father's estate is not confirmed^†.