If there’s any question about paternity, it’s important to seek a resolution. For instance, someone may want to have parental rights to see their child, but they need to show that they actually are that child’s father because they’re not listed on the birth certificate. Conversely, the other parent may be looking into their options to seek child support, so they want to show who needs to make those monthly payments.
Either way, paternity testing can be carried out. Is it going to be accurate? Can the results be trusted and used in legal proceedings, such as making a ruling about parental rights or child support?
Highly accurate DNA testing
Paternity testing wasn’t always accurate, but DNA sequencing has changed the game. There are new testing techniques and ways to amplify DNA sequencing that were not available in the past. These scientific breakthroughs mean that a DNA comparison is now 99.99% accurate. If the test was carried out 10,000 times, it would be accurate 9,999 times, only missing once.
As such, the key to DNA testing is to ensure that all of the proper steps are taken and that the test is carried out accurately. For this reason, home DNA tests are usually not permitted in court. There’s no way for the court to know that the right individual even took the test, much less that the results are accurate. But a couple can go to a scientific lab and have DNA sequencing done to get accurate results that are trustworthy and admissible as evidence in court, when necessary.
Complex legal issues
These types of paternity-related issues can get very complicated for a couple when they aren’t married or after a divorce. It’s quite important for them to understand all the legal options at their disposal.