There may be doubt or disagreement about who a child’s birth parent is regarding parenting issues. Finding out the father’s identity can greatly affect court orders, like who gets to raise the child or pays child support.
When there is a question about who the child’s father is, a paternity test is often the best way to determine the child’s father. This article will explain in detail what a court-ordered paternity test is and when a court may order one.
What are Paternity Tests?
A DNA test is used to determine a child’s birth parents. This is called a paternity test. To find out who the birth father of a child is, a mouth swab, a cheek swab, or a blood test will be done on both the child and the guy who is supposed to be the dad. If you need to take the test for legal reasons, you must do it in a medical setting.
This means that you can’t test yourself. For the test, you must go to a lab. A paternity test is done after a child is born, but a prenatal paternity test can be done while a woman is pregnant to determine if a man is the child’s biological father. In 99.9% of cases, the results of a paternity test are correct.
What is a court-mandated paternity test?
The Family Court may request a DNA test on its own if there is reason to doubt the child’s paternity, or you can ask for one to find out if someone is a child’s biological parent. This usually happens when there is a fight about who the child’s parent is in a family law case.
Before a court-ordered paternity test is done, the court must be sure that there is a good reason to think the person who asked for the test could be the father. They will also think about what is best for the child. The presumption of parentage is set out in the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). Without DNA test results, it is assumed that you are the child’s parent if:
- The baby’s birth certificate has your name on it (Section 69R)
- Your name is on an acknowledgment of the artificial conception form that you signed.
- You signed something else that says you are the child’s parent, like a statutory declaration (Section 69T)
- A court in Australia or somewhere else in the world has ruled that you are the child’s parent (Section 69S)
- If a woman was married, living with, or in a facto relationship with a male when her child was born, the child is also assumed to be the kid of the man (Section 69Q)
- If a married woman gives birth to a child, the child is thought to be the child of the woman as well as her husband (Section 69P)
DNA testing shows that the assumption of paternity is wrong. Since DNA tests are accurate, if they show that a person is not the child’s biological parent, that person’s name could be taken off the birth certificate.
If the judge rules a paternity test to determine the child’s parents, you will have to go to an approved lab. The test that meets NATA approval and the Family Law Regulations of 1984 will be done in the lab (Cth).
When will the Family Court order a paternity test?
In court cases where there are questions about a child’s parents, the judge may purchase a paternity test to determine the child’s parents. If one of the people in the case asks for it, the court can also order a paternity test. They usually won’t do this unless there is a good reason to doubt who a child’s parent is.
Australia’s paternity testing legislation
Section 69W(b) of the Act 1975 (Cth) says that a court can make an order for a parentage test if a party in a family court case asks for it.
Can the court make me take a paternity test?
Section 69W of the Act 1975 (Cth) says that the court can order a parentage test for a child involved in the case. However, the court cannot make you take the test. If you don’t take the test, the court will decide what to do based on the evidence you have given and the balance of probabilities.
But if you don’t follow a court order, you could be charged with contempt of court, which is a crime, or with going against a court order, which is also a crime. If you are charged with a crime and found guilty, you could get anything from a fine to jail time.
What does a paternity test involve?
When a body sample is taken to prove who a child’s parents are, certain steps must be taken, such as:
- Putting together an affidavit and a statement.
- You should sign the label on the sample’s sealed container.
- The person who gets the sample puts a picture of the donor on the declaration. The picture and the statement should be attached to clarify if the picture was taken off.
- The donor’s recent medical history should be written in the affidavit and declaration.
It’s important to remember that consent is assumed when someone fills out the forms (along with any lab forms) and gives a sample.
In Family Law Proceedings, Contesting Paternity
You can dispute their claim if you don’t think the other person is the child’s parent. You can ask them to take a paternity test, or if they refuse, you can ask the court to order them to take the test. The court might think about the refusal when making decisions in the future.
Does it matter what the paternity test says?
The results of a paternity test can have a big effect on who gets custody or how much child support is paid. It’s important to know because it can affect how things go in court.
Parenting cases
Any biological parent has the right to participate in any parenting court case. When there are two fathers, a biological father, and an equitable father, the court will usually send a court attendance notice to the biological father if they know where he is.
If they can’t be found, the court can order that the service be done. If a child loves someone who isn’t their biological parent, that person has the right to be involved in parenting decisions. The courts will decide based on what they think is best for the child.
This could mean they make orders that say the child’s parents are brought up as proof. A child’s biological father is the man whose egg or sperm led to the child’s birth. A child’s genes come from the man who is the child’s biological father.
Paying child support
You could ask for the money back if you provided child support before the child’s father was found out. In these situations, there are some restrictions and rules. If, on the other hand, you weren’t paying child support and it turns out that you are the father, you may have to make up any missed payments.
Giving back child support
If you get the wrong amount of child support, you must figure out how to repay it. If you don’t, more steps could be taken against you, such as garnishing your wages or bringing you to court in the worst cases.
Can a parent require a paternity test?
The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) gives the court the power to order a testing procedure to determine who the birth parents are. This is often done when there is a disagreement about who the child’s parents are.
The court can order you to take a paternity test but can’t force you. If you don’t do what the court says, you might still be seen as the father, and the court might take more steps.
If you don’t take the paternity test or pay child support, more action might be taken. About 25% of men who get a paternity test find out that they’re not the father of their child. This means that getting a paternity test might save you cash on payments for child support.
