If you’ve recently been told that you’re the father of a child, then you may want to confirm your paternity before accepting parental responsibility. Before a Riverside judge will award you custody or order you to pay child support, they may ask you to take a DNA paternity test.
Taking a DNA test is a pretty simple process. You simply have to schedule an appointment at a facility that has the capabilities to take a sample from you. They’ll send off your specimen to have it analyzed against your alleged child’s to verify that you share enough common genetic markers. If you do, the lab technician will issue a report letting you know what the probability is that you are biologically related.
Most facilities will swab the inside of your cheeks for your buccal cells and send that sample off for testing. Other places may prefer to take blood instead. These are just two of many different bodily sources contain your DNA.
DNA testing is accepted by California courts as a way of proving paternity because of how accurate it’s been found to be. These tests can rule out a man as the prospective father of a child with 100 percent accuracy. They can also effectively identify them with 99.9 percent certainty.
Fatherhood isn’t automatically presumed in California unless a couple is married at the time of a child’s birth. Unmarried fathers can voluntarily assume parental rights by signing a parental affidavit. If they’re unwilling to do so, then they may be required to take a paternity test before they can qualify to receive custody of their son or daughter. A child custody attorney can help walk you through the process of establishing paternity and being granted custodial rights of them.