Legal Paternity Testing
Legal and court-admissible DNA proof of paternal relationship
Why a Legal Paternity Test?
Child Support and Custody
A child’s mother and father can disagree about paternity or just want to make sure of the biological father. Unmarried parents are unable to legally recognize the biological father’s rights to his child until paternity is established.
Birth Certificate
The people named on a child’s birth certificate are important because they gain parental responsibility for that child. When a married couple have a child, the mother and the father are automatically placed on the birth certificate.
Immigration
DNA testing is requested by a U.S. Embassy or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office when they cannot prove a clear biological relationship with prior submitted documentation.
Adoption
The adoption process can become treacherous when biological relationships and parental rights are muddy. DNA maternity testing clears the waters by demonstrating whether a woman could be the biological mother of a child.
Inheritance Rights
DNA testing can help solve challenges to wills and prove whether someone is a genuine heir. Typically, probate courts will consider these DNA results and family relationships in determining how an estate will be divided among heirs and beneficiaries.
Many Other Legal Reason
Legal DNA tests require more attention and special handling. When a chain of custody is administered correctly this will ensure the sample can be used in a local, state, or federal court of law for any purpose needing accurate and valid legal DNA results.
Confidential and Reliable Testing
DNA tests can determine the biological father with 99% accuracy. Schedule your appointment Today.
What Makes A DNA Test Legal?
Legal DNA tests are required for use in court cases, such as child support, paternity, child custody, US VISA and immigration, Adoptions, or any cases involving a court-ordered DNA test. Legal DNA tests require more attention and special handling. They must follow a regulated Chain of Custody and be tested in an AABB Accredited Laboratory (or ISO-certified lab, for legal cases outside of the United States) …
Chain of Custody encompasses everything surrounding a sample being collected to its submission for testing. This process ensures the integrity of the sample throughout the collection and testing phases. When a chain of custody is done correctly this will ensure the sample can be used in a local, state, or federal court of law for any purpose needing accurate and valid legal DNA results.
Legal Paternity Test Requirements:
- A scheduled appointment for sample collection to verify identification.
- A photograph will be taken of the tested parties to maintain a strict chain-of-custody (legal documentation).
- Samples are collected by a medically trained technician with a painless buccal (cheek) swab and shipped securely to the AABB accredited laboratory for processing.
- Results are reported electronically within 2-3 working days. The original court admissible report is sent via US Mail.
How Does Legal Paternity Testing Work?
DNA COLLECTION: Place your order and our scheduling specialist arranges a DNA-collection appointment near your home or office at a time convenient for you. All parties must have their DNA samples collected at a certified facility such as a hospital, medical office, or health department. We have a large network of sample-collection sites and you can choose from thousands of locations.
CHAIN-OF-CUSTODY HANDLING: Once the DNA samples are collected for a legal paternity test, they are securely packaged and sent to our accredited laboratory, where DNA testing takes place.
THE TESTING PROCESS: The laboratory technicians carefully handle and prepare your DNA samples for processing. Every paternity test with cheek-swab samples is run two separate times by independent teams. The results are then reviewed by a team of PhDs and your report is prepared.
YOUR RESULTS: As soon as the results are verified, immediate and secure online access to the report is available for the decision-maker in the case, and a legal document that is admissible in a court of law is mailed to all tested parties.
Results are completely confidential, and your private genetic information is never shared with or sold to outside parties.
Accreditation
1st Class DNA is partnered with DNA Diagnostics Center, an accredited DNA testing laboratory which is certified by the American Association of Blood Bank (AABB), ACLASS Accreditation Services (ISO/IED 17025), College of American Pathologists (CAP), New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).
