Australia: a case of a court ordered paternity test

Paternity DNA testing is the most accurate and scientific means of establishing paternity. These tests have come to hold a lot of legal significance as this Australia court ordered paternity test case shows.

A Western Australian Man met his girlfriend in 2000. They met in an internet chat room and planned to get married after their online affair developed. His wife-to-be was residing in the US and had a child of her own who was almost two years of age. The man had also had a vasectomy in 1994, 6 years prior to meeting his wife in 2000.

To ease immigration procedures and enable the child to settle in Australia and conform to US immigration procedures, the man agreed to have his name on the child’s birth certificate. The necessary paper work was signed in the US and the Australian man turned down the paternity DNA test or blood tests recommended by the authorities in such situations.

The child is now 10 years of age, the couple divorced in 2006 and the man does not any longer wish to pay support towards the child; however, being the father on the child’s birth certificate means he is bound by law to keep paying. The wife made an appeal against any DNA tests being taken but the judge over ruled her appeal and decided for a DNA test. The father in question wished to no longer have any contact with the boy after the breakdown of the marriage but the mother tried to obtain a court order to have the father meet the boy at least once a fortnight. The father was made to pay, in an earlier court case, 800$ a month to maintain the child and mother. The money was not actually handed over to the mother during the appeal but retained by a Child Support Agency until the court ordered paternity test results came through.

The mother tried to plead a case in stating how the judge had failed in not applying US law in the case; however, she did not get far in this. In Australia the law strives to protect the child and ensure he or she has their true biological parents- this is done so as to protect the child about future psychological damage that may arise when parentage is questioned later in their adult life.

Court ordered paternity tests and at-home tests

A Court Ordered Paternity Test is a test requested by the court. When such an order is issued you will need to do a legal paternity test which conforms to certain procedures required to make the test valid as a legal document. The case here highlighted is an example of a case that would require a court ordered test; visitation disputes are also commonly subject to a legal test. If you do not wish to go through a court and the time and expenses entailed, you could opt for the at-home paternity test- this however, has no legal standing and is only done for informative purposes.

Court ordered paternity tests will mean having you DNA samples collected by a third party that is neutral to the test; DNA samples need to be notarized and there are several steps in place that are mandatory.