Paternity testing

[shelleylou]

Hi,
Posting on behalf of a friend. He was recently told he is to be a father and was the only possible one. Today however the mother has told him that hes not the dad and will not be allowed to see the child when its born. Also mentioned the possiblity of aborting the pregnancy.
He wants to find out if he is the father by a paternity test but what rights does he have to get one and how does he go about it?
I thought he could apply to the courts for a spefici order but not enitrely sure

I think that once the child is born (assuming she doesn't terminate the pregnancy) he can apply to the courts for parental responsibility and a declaration of parentage (you can't apply for a declaration of parentage on its own, only along with some other proceedings) and then the court might order a DNA test.

I don't know what the typical decision by the court is in cases like this, though.

If there's any possibility of working the situation out amicably with the mother (clearly she's not feeling very amicable at the moment, but that might change) then that would be better for all concerned, obviously.

Thanks portandlemon, i did tell him he could apply for PR.

They were getting on quite well, my friend was round hers the other night to help look after her and her dd as they were both ill. It doesnt look likely that the mother will be amicable, my friend iwould rather do it amicably, with her agreeing to the paternity test etc but will do what it takes legally to find out if it is his LO.

bump

If she goes to the CSA for maintenance, he can deny parentage. When this happens, a DNA test is ordered, unless there is some other proof, such as a Birth Certificate. The potential father pays for the test, but this is refunded if it comes back negative, or the mother refuses to take the test also. This is what happened in our case. When the test came back positive it gave DH the confidence to apply to the courts for contact, however the courts do not 'officially' recognise a link between contact and mmoney, but DH has prrof so is persuing contact on that basis. Your friend could still apply to the courts for contact when the LO is born, regardless.

It is likely he would get some form of contact as this is seen as best for the LO.

Thanks Anita, I told him that he could get one through CSA if she applied for maintenance. He thinks she wont go for maintenance. The contact issue is interesting. Thanks

thanks stewie thats a great idea

Just to add that if she doesnt return to work and is on income support then she will have no choice but to involve the csa as income support will ask about the absent father and unless there are serious risks to the mother and/or child then she will have to give a name to csa.

Unfortunately she can say she doesn't know who the father is. But the legislation on it has changed so you can opt out of CSA calculating and collecting maintenance. They are trying to get more parents doing private agreements. I've been told i can cancel my claim and do it privately with exp even though im on IS.