Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: paternity

If someone claims that you are the father of their child, the court will usually order a paternity test. It is pretty tough to successfully object to this court order. The only successful objections I have seen are ones based upon jurisdiction (i.e., the alleged father can prove he has never been in the state where the court order is sought.) If the child has a legal father, you could object upon the grounds that ordering a paternity test would upset the familial relationship--Case law seems to support this objection, although my experience has shown that courts often ignore this rule of law, especially when it is the alleged father seeking to avoid the paternity test. If the problem is a logistical one, you can pretty much get a paternity test in any county in the united states, and the court should order that you can use a recognized service in the county where you reside. Once a paternity test establishes a genetic link, it is very hard to overcome those results even though paternity tests are often wrong. I had a case once where 2 paternity tests showed that 2 men were the father of the same child! To make matters worse, the court made an order that they were both the father of the child and both had an obligation to pay child support!