Legal Question in Family Law in Utah

Re: paternity testing

Generally court ordered paternity tests are used to determine the paternity of a minor for child support purposes. If an adult child wants to confirm the paternity of a parent, a lawsuit would have to be filed stating a specific reason which is sufficient for a court to issue such an order. There is a presumption that each parent in a family is the lawful and legal parent of all of the children born during that marriage, absent a timely filing for paternity. Your situation is not timely, and the court will presume that the father is in fact the legal father.

If you have issues with the parent-child relationship in question, it may be more appropriate to seek professional counseling, rather than a paternity test. If the parent has provided normal care for the child, there should not be any good reason to contest paternity. If the relationship is not healthy, the test will not change anything, but counseling might.