The purpose of a paternity suit is to legally declare a specific man to be (or not to be) the father of a specific child.  Most of the time, a woman “knows” who is the father of her baby but that relationship between father and child needs to be formalized by a Judge in order for that man to get a paper (court order) that proves his paternity to the world.  For example, if mother and child are both seriously injured, father can use his court order giving him parental rights to consent to medical treatment of his child. 

         Not all men are anxious to be dads.  Others welcome the opportunity but want to be sure that this child is really my child.  DNA testing can now conclusively answer that question.

         If a paternity suit is filed, an alleged father has an absolute right to a DNA test.  But he must ask for a test before the suit is final.  Once there is a court order that says he is the father of a child and establishes the parent-child relationship, there is no, I repeat, NO chance to go back and change that order, short of some other man adopting that child.

         The same is true for husbands that want to be sure a child born or conceived during their marriage is actually their biological child.  Once a divorce is final, that child is YOURS forever.  You cannot complain later that you didn’t know. 

         In other words, this is the ONLY opportunity to be SURE that this is YOUR child.  Once this case is over, this child IS yours, even if future DNA testing shows that you are not the biological parent.  THE COURT ORDER CONTROLS – and you ARE the father.  Period!  End of story!  Done!  I have seen men in court with test results that exclude them from paternity and watched judges tell them they’re sorry but too late – that child is theirs.

MORAL OF THE STORY FOR DADS – GET A DNA TEST TO BE SURE!

         Mothers – the first step to getting child support from a man not your husband is a paternity suit.  The Office of the Attorney General will handle this at no cost but they are slow and you must provide them with the name and address of alleged father.  If you don’t know where to find him, that office will not be helpful.  You can hire a private attorney to file the same paternity suit but lawyers don’t have crystal balls with dad’s addresses in them.  You still need to find him!

MORAL OF THE STORY FOR MOMS – DON’T WAIT TOO LONG!