Paternity Testing - Should You Take a Legal Or a Home Paternity Test?

If you are planning to take a paternity test, you have the option of using either an at home DNA test kit or legal paternity testing. Each type of paternity testing has its advantages and disadvantages, and some careful thought should be given to which serves your needs the best.

Home Paternity Testing:

Home paternity tests are often the best choice for those who would like to keep the paternity test process private. For example, if you are man with concerns about paternity, but do not want to upset the child's mother be challenging her assertions about your being the father of a child, you may wish to keep the test private. If the results come back stating that you are the father of the child, there will be no need for the emotional conflict that can occur when questioning claims about paternity. However, you should be aware that regardless of the results, an at home paternity test has no standing in a court. For this you will need a legal paternity test.

Legal Paternity Testing:

A legal paternity test is carefully monitored throughout the testing process in order to establish what is called a "chain of custody." This makes sure there has been no tampering with the samples at any stage of the testing process, and the results can be used in court proceedings if necessary. Child custody and support cases often rely on legal paternity tests. For example, if you are the mother of a child whose father refuses to pay any support because he questions paternity, you can go to court and request he be ordered to take a legal DNA test. Once paternity has been established, you can move onto the next step of formally requesting child support payments to be made on the behalf of the child.
These two types of paternity testing are not necessarily exclusive of one another.

For example, you may want to use a home paternity test prior to pursuing any legal paternity testing, since the legal test is both more expensive and has legal ramifications. With careful thought about the needs of both you and the child in question, you should be able to ascertain which test will be the best for you.

M. M. Day has written numerous articles on paternity testing, including additional articles about how the court ordered paternity test process works, and how to go about requesting a court ordered paternity test.

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