If you suspect that your wife or girlfriend has been unfaithful, how do you know if your child is really yours? To put it plainly, you don’t – without doing a home paternity test.
Of course, you don’t have to do a DNA test. You could simply leave, or you can man up and take responsibility for the relationship and the child. Either way, there are going to be some costs, often of the legal variety.
If you decide to dissolve the relationship, you will most likely still be on the hook for child support. Without any evidence to the contrary, the courts will tend to side with the mother. If you stay, you will bear or share the cost of raising the child until their eighteenth birthday.
If you want to challenge the paternity of the child, you have the option of taking a paternity test. Before you do, you must be sure of two things:
- You must choose the home paternity test kit that is legal in court.
- You must ensure that your state allows for the admissibility of DNA evidence when determining paternity.
Not all paternity test kits are legal in a courtroom setting. The less expensive test kits are okay for satisfying your personal interest, but the court will insist on a strict chain of evidence to prevent fraudulent contamination of the DNA samples. For more information and to order a DNA test kit, click on this paternity test kits link.
Not all states admit DNA evidence into a paternity suit even if the chain of evidence is secure. Often the laws have simply not been amended to keep up with advances in technology. A paternity test kit will not help you in those cases. Click here for an example of paternity testing not being admissible in court.
Often states will have default provision on the books that determine paternity on the basis of the “most likely” candidate. If you were living with your significant other and had sex with her, you are the father as far as these states are concerned. However, many states feel DNA testing can trump the default mode as such testing is nearly 100% accurate.