Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: paternity

Hello!

I am a little confused by your question. Who is the State proposing to test?

Generally speaking, the State strongly encourages mothers of children to identify birth fathers at the time of application for public assistance. If the mother truly does not know the identity of the father, there is really no possibility of obtaining child support.

In reality, most mothers have some idea who the father is, even if there are several potential fathers or she may not know a lot of information about the father. In those cases, the State will attempt to locate the father, and may, in fact, commence paternity proceedings against more than one man.

By accepting public assistance, the mother must agree to cooperate with the public authorities, which may or may not require her to make the child available for paternity tests.

Re: paternity

Thank you for your question.

The simple answer is that the court can require you and a potential father to submit to a parternity test. If the putatative father cannot be located or identified, it is unlikely the court would order any test -- but then why would you seek child support? If you are seeking child support from a person who may be the father, then paternity can be challenged and a test will be ordered to resolve the issue.

If you are seeking public assistance and cannot identify the father, the court can still order a test, but will not likely do so.

Many more facts are required to answer your question. If you have additional concerns or questions, my contact information is below.