Legal Question in Family Law in California
Confirmation of Dubious Paternity Test
In 1988, My fiancee dated a woman who had an affair during their relationship. She
became pregnant and they ended their relationship before she gave birth. She filed for
child support via the AG's Family Division. A paternity test was performed and
established that my fiancee could probably be the father due to matching of blood types.
He accepted that and responsibly began child support payments. As the boy grew, he
started to resemble the other man and when my fiancee met up with her in November
1998, she agreed that my fiancee must NOT be the father; she is now happily married and
the boy believes her husband is his real father. My fiancee wants to terminate support
payments but doesn't know how to broach the subject since he feels this may cause
problems for her with her new husband who may not accept her communicating with him.
The AG's office informed my fiancee that he would have to pay $3500 for the paternity
testing since he is contesting it but he cannot afford that. How can the validity of the
original paternity test be disputed so that my fiancee would not have to pay for a re-test?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Confirmation of Dubious Paternity Test
A lot of your message does not seem right. Even in 1988, HLA testing (assuming DNA testing was not done) generally came up with very very high probabilities of
paternity. While some mistakes were possible, it is not very likely.
If there is a judgment of paternity, it may be impossible to remove, even if it was incorrect. This is an area in which some recent cases may be important, and you
should consult an expert in paternity.
A DNA test currently runs $350-$600, not $3,500. Again, this does not make sense.
Why is the AG's office involved? Usually the D.A.'s office will bring any non-private paternity action. Why has the A.G. said anything about a new test, since it already has a judgment?
The facts do not fit together well yet. Why are you writing and not your fiancee?
Jed Somit
Jed Somit, Attorney at Law
1440 Broadway - Suite 910
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