Caution: This page contains GENERAL LEGAL INFORMATION ONLY.
It is NOT LEGAL ADVICE nor a replacement for talking to a lawyer and getting legal advice about your case.
The law can be complicated and the details of a case can be even more complicated! There are exceptions for every rule.
What you do not know can harm you. Rely on general legal information AT YOUR OWN RISK.
—Paternity Testing—
Will the Court Order A Paternity Test?
If a party fails to cooperate with the testing, the court may make a negative inference (i.e. that the party refuse to participate because they believe the person is, if fact, the father). The cost of a DNA test is a lot cheaper than conducting a trial on the issue and deciding based on who is more believable. The result is far more reliable than a judge deciding which party's story to believe. In thorory, the DNA testing is only evidence and does not automatically result in a finding of paternity. However, in practice, it is nearly impossible to challenge paternity in the face of favourable test result, unless you can challange to the labratory's practices or provide a contradictory report. How Accurate is the Test? What is the Cost? Who Pays? What is the Procedure? For the test results to be used in court, the samples must be taken and transported by a labratory technician. (Samples that are mailed in to a laboratory by a party can too easily be falsified.) The child and the possible father must be properly identified: Government issued photo identification is required (there may be exceptions for the child). Photographs and finger prints may be taken to confirm who was tested. In a laboratory, the genetic information from the two samples is compared for similarities and differences. Based on these results, the technicians can determine the likelihood of paternity. The test results are usually available within one week and a letter is provided. Who To Get To Do The Testing?
What is the Difference between a Finding and a Declaration of Paternity? When dealing with a claim in which parterity is relevant (for example, child support), a court can make a finding that a person is the father. This only is binding to that issue (in this example, child support). A declaration of paterity by a court decides the issue for all purposes. However, a declaration can only be made by the Superior Court of Justice. Additionally, as it may affect other person's rights, there may be a requirement to serve notice on all other possible men who could have fathered the child. |
Michaud Family Law • 416-707-7976 • 2 County Court Blvd., Suite 434, Brampton, Ontario, L6W 3W8
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