Establishing Paternity and Legal Paternity Testing

by HOMEDNA on 08/31/2021

Establishing Paternity

Establishing paternity (fatherhood) can get tricky in the legal world since being the “legal” father can be distinctly different than being the “biological” father. Fatherhood is usually determined first by marriage. Although all states have differing laws for establishing paternity, most state laws say that if a married woman gives birth to a child, the husband is the “legal” father. But what happens if the woman isn’t married? This is where establishing paternity can get complicated.

Though most children are born to a mother and a father, the CDC reported  in 2012 that  out of the almost 4 million U.S. births, 40.7% of  those children were born to an unmarried mother. When an unmarried woman needs to establish paternity for the sake of child support and child custody, she usually has two options.

  1. The first option for establishing paternity when there is no “legal” father is by voluntary declaration of paternity. Both parties, mother and father, voluntarily sign and consent to being the child’s legal parents and are in agreement that the other is also the parent.
  2. The other option is to establish paternity through a court order. This is where the legal paternity test comes into play.

Legal Paternity Testing

In order to prove paternity for court purposes, a legal paternity test is usually necessary. A legal paternity test requires a chain-of-custody process whereby a third-party Collector verifies participating individuals’ identity, witnesses DNA collection and then sends the samples to directly to the testing laboratory. This process ensures that no party has tampered with samples and prevents any other fraudulent activities. Once results are received at the lab, the DNA from the father, child and sometimes mother is compared and results are released to the participants.

The DDC Legal Paternity Test

HomeDNA Paternity’s parent company, DDC, offers a legal paternity test that is affordable and convenient. Here’s what you can expect if you start the legal paternity test process with us.

  • First, you need to call DDC. During this phone call, a DNA sample-collection appointment is set up at a location near you
  • We  send all  testing supplies directly to your collector prior to the collection appointment. If you’ve already purchased an at-home kit from the store, we’ll credit your account
  • Next, you need to attend your collection appointment with a government-issued photo ID (for adults) and a photo (for children)
  • Your collector verifies the identity of each participant, helps you fill out the order form and sample envelopes, witnesses DNA collection and then sends your samples to our lab
  • Results are  ready  online  two (2) business days after the samples arrive at our laboratory.

There is only one real difference between at-home tests and legal paternity tests. That difference is in the method in collecting the DNA samples. As already mentioned, a legal paternity test needs a chain-of-custody to withstand in court, whereas a home test (not for legal purposes) can be collected (unsupervised) in the privacy of your home.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! If you have questions about paternity tests or other DNA testing services, please contact our  Client Support Center at 888-404-4363, Mon-Fri  from 9 AM to 6 PM Eastern Time. Our friendly, expert representatives are ready and happy to help. Get answers anytime by visiting our Help Center. 

 
IDENTIGENE-LEGAL-PATERNITY

What Do You Mean by “Legal Paternity?”

by HOMEDNA on 05/03/2021

“NOTE: This information-only article may help you better understand the terms, definitions, and language used in legal paternity situations and is not legal advice. For specific legal advice, please contact a lawyer in your state.

Studies show that one in ten people have a paternity-related question. Often the question of paternity is a simple one, and those involved just need the peace of mind that comes with knowing who is the father. But legal questions about paternity can get far more complicated. For example:

  • Who is allowed to go to court  to determine  the father of a child ?
  • When can a case be filed with the court and how much time do you have to establish paternity?
  • What is the court process in a paternity case?
  • What evidence is used in paternity cases to prove the existence of a parent-child relationship?
  • How does one go about getting a legal paternity test?

Having answers to questions like these can give you a better understanding of the legal paternity process, and may be important to protecting your right to be involved in the child’s life.

Using the State of Colorado as an example, we’ve researched a few answers to commonly-asked legal paternity questions. Of course, laws vary from state to state and you should contact a local lawyer where you live for answers to your specific questions.

Who is allowed to go to court  to determine  the father of a child ?

  • The child
  • The biological mother
  • The alleged father
  • A representative from the State of residence
  • A representative from the Department of Human Services
  • A county department representative of social services

When can a case be filed with the court and how much time do you have to establish paternity?

  • A paternity case can be filed anytime before the child’s 18th birthday, if trying to prove a parent-child relationship.
  • To prove that a man is NOT the father of the child, parties must file within a reasonable time after the man finds out someone may claim he is the father, and definitely before the child’s fifth birthday.
  • Child support enforcement agencies can bring an action on behalf of the child at any time before his or her 21st birthday, if the amount of time allowed to bring the suit was less than 18 years when the child was born. A child can bring an action anytime before his or her 21st birthday.

What is the court process in a paternity case?

  • An informal hearing is scheduled first with the court. If it is determined by the court to be in the child’s best interests, a hearing is then ordered to have the case heard before a judge.
  • The court may determine that in the best interest of both parties, the hearing may not to be open to the public.
  • A record of what happens at this hearing will be kept if any party requests it.
  • If any witness refuses to testify, the court can order the witness to testify and produce evidence related to all relevant facts in the case.
  • Any party may seek a restraining order, injunction, temporary orders as to custody, parenting time, and support as soon as the court enters an order determining the existence of the parent-child relationship.

NOTE: Issues of temporary custody, parenting time, and support are decided under a different set of rules established by each State.

What evidence is used in paternity cases to prove the existence of a parent-child relationship?

  • Evidence of sexual intercourse between the mother and the alleged father at any time that would make it possible for the child to have been conceived during that encounter.
  • An expert’s opinion that based on the duration of the mother’s pregnancy, there is a chance that the man could be the father.
  • Medical or anthropological evidence
  • Legal DNA Paternity Test (through DNA Diagnostics Center, which is the parent company of HomeDNA ) with a witnessed 3rd party collection

How do I get a legal paternity test?

  • It should be noted that there is a difference between a ‘personal’ HomeDNA paternity test, and a ‘legal’ DNA paternity test. To be considered a ‘legal’ test, the swab collection needs to be performed with a witnessed third-party DNA collector. Typically, an additional fee per person is paid to the collection service for this process. This unbiased collection prevents sample tampering, and provides a chain-of-custody process for samples: from collection to results
  • An at-home kit cannot be used for legal purposes, but a legal paternity test can be ordered through our parent company DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC) or by calling 800-681-7162. Already have a home kit? No problem: We’ll credit your account for the cost of the kit
  • We will set up an appointment with a collector near you
  • In order to maintain chain of custody, we must send the kit directly to the approved collector. You cannot take a kit with you to the appointment
  • Collectors will send documentation and collected samples back to the lab on your behalf
  • After samples arrive at the lab it will take two (2) business days to receive your results. The secure and private results will be available online (where you can also print them).

(Colorado Judicial Branch. For State-specific information, call the courthouse in your community.)

Read related stories with more information regarding Legal Paternity Testing:

Establishing Paternity and Legal Paternity Testing

Do I need court-admissible DNA results?

Privacy and Accuracy With Paternity Testing

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! If you have questions about paternity tests or other DNA testing services, please contact our  Client Support Center at 888-404-4363, Mon-Fri  from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time. Our friendly, expert representatives are ready and happy to help. Get answers anytime by visiting our Help Center. 

paternity fraud

Paternity Fraud: Answers to your Questions

by HOMEDNA on 04/12/2021

We sometimes receive inquiries from customers questioning if it’s possible for one participant in a paternity test to switch samples, either with themselves or someone else, or if they could have changed the DNA somehow by eating before collecting DNA. If this happens to you, it is considered paternity fraud, and you may not get the accurate results you are looking for. Here are some sample scenarios.

Paternity Fraud: Mom submits her DNA as the alleged father’s

One question we encountered recently was a concerned possible father who thought maybe the mother of the child could have swabbed herself in his place to force the results to show not excluded, meaning he is considered to be the biological father.

In all paternity testing cases our laboratory also includes the amelogenin gene to verify the sex of all participants. This helps to verify the alleged father being tested is male and the mother is female. We can also verify the sex of the child. This means mom could not swab herself and submit her sample as the alleged father without our laboratory experts discovering that. If this does occur we  place the paternity test on hold and contact the participants to ask them to re-swab the correct participants.

Another sign that the mother swabbed in the alleged father’s place would be the mother and father would show as identical DNA, which is not possible. This would also be a red flag and cause the paternity testing to come to a stop. When testing is suspended, participants are contacted and asked for new samples.

Paternity Fraud: Switching samples with someone else

Another question we sometimes get asked is whether the alleged father could have switched his own samples with someone else. If you purchase the home DNA collection kit for paternity testing purposes, the results you receive are not court admissible. This is because the laboratory cannot verify whose samples they have actually received. If the participants do not collect the samples together and mail them off together, there is always a risk that someone could switch their samples with someone else.

If you are in a situation where you doubt the reliability of the other person to be honest about submitting their own sample, we always recommend a legal paternity test collection. To prevent any doubt of someone committing paternity fraud, all participants should go to a third-party collection facility to have their DNA collected by an approved witness. This collector verifies ID and take photos of each participant. The collector then sends the samples to the lab for testing to establish a chain-of-custody to verify samples could not have been tampered with.

Paternity Fraud: Eating or drinking before DNA collection

Another question we get is whether someone can alter their DNA by eating or drinking something before they swab their mouth. The answer is no. You cannot alter your DNA by putting anything in your mouth. If you have had a bone marrow transplant recently, that affect results. Anything like that should be discussed with the facility doing the paternity testing.

We do ask that you don’t eat or drink anything for about an hour before collecting the DNA samples, to keep food or anything else off the swabs. Eating or drinking before the collection can cause remnants to get on the swab with the DNA. The worst this will do is create a situation where we can’t get a profile at all. If a profile is obtained, then the food or drink did nothing. If we can’t get a profile, we ask for a recollection at no charge.

Read more about DNA test fraud situations and other paternity test questions.

The Bottom Line

When doing an at-home paternity test for peace-of-mind purposes, we highly recommend that all participants watch each other collect DNA samples, put them in envelopes, and then go together to the post office to drop them off. If that’s not possible or if you suspect that one of the participants may want to commit a fraudulent act, then do the wise thing: Pay a little extra for a legal paternity test from our parent company, DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC) and have the whole process supervised by an approved witness. Results are  court-admissible too!

Buy a home paternity test kit

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! If you have questions about paternity tests or other DNA testing services, please contact our  Client Support Center at 888-404-4363, Mon-Fri  from 8:30 AM to 5:30PM Eastern Time. Our friendly, expert representatives are ready and happy to help. Get answers anytime by visiting our Help Center. 

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