A Georgia court can order genetic testing in a paternity case whether or not the parties agree to it, and the putative father’s death does not necessarily end the question.
The Court Can Order the Test
Under OCGA 19-7-43(d), the court may order the mother, the alleged father, and the child to submit to genetic tests on its own motion or on the motion of any party, and “shall grant a party’s motion unless it finds a good excuse for noncooperation.” The testing must be run by an accredited laboratory. OCGA 19-7-45(a).
Refusing the test does not make the problem go away. Evidence that a man refused “is admissible to show that the alleged father is not precluded from being the father of the child.” OCGA 19-7-46(d).
What the Results Prove
Georgia sets the threshold by statute. There is a rebuttable presumption of paternity of a child born out of wedlock where credible genetic testing “establishes at least a 97 percent probability of paternity,” and that presumption can be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence. OCGA 19-7-46(c).
When the Father Has Died
For determining the heirs of an estate, OCGA 53-2-27 allows a court to order DNA samples taken from a decedent’s remains and from any party in interest whose kinship to the decedent is disputed. The court can order disinterment where that is “reasonably necessary” to obtain the samples.
Adoption is a limit on this. The statute bars testing where a person’s kinship to the decedent was created or terminated by an adoption decree, unless the adoption left their right to inherit unaffected or they were conceived through assisted reproduction.
Often it is not necessary. In In re Estate of Warren, 300 Ga. App. 408 (2009), a woman claiming to be a deceased man’s daughter tested her DNA against his acknowledged son instead. The result showed a 99.65 percent probability that the two were half-siblings, and because they did not share a mother, the Court of Appeals held that established the same probability that the decedent was her father.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!