What are the Legal Implications of Proving Paternity?
Most people jump to the conclusion that paternity testing is conducted so that the biological father will have to pay child support to the child’s mother, regardless if this is in accordance with his wishes. However, establishing paternity grants the biological father certain rights, including legal access to his child. Unless a court of law determines that it is not in the best interest of the child to have contact with the biological father, an unmarried father has all of the custody rights as those granted to a divorced father whose child was born in wedlock. How Is Paternity Testing Initiated? If an unwed couple–or even a couple who is wed–has doubt about a child’s paternity, they can agree privately to have DNA testing conducted. However, in the majority of cases, paternity testing is ordered by a court when the putative (assumed) father denies that he is a child’s biological father. The child’s mother can hire an attorney to act for her, but if a child is already born and is re
