Should the court grant paternity tests solely based on one party's suspicions?2

• Time：2021-09-09
• counter：2301

As a discovery method, the initiation of paternity testing must be based on proper justification. The party requesting confirmation of the parent-child relationship or denial of it shall bear the corresponding burden of proof. Usually, the party requesting confirmation of the parent-child relationship shall prove the basic facts that the father and mother lived together or other things to illustrate that the parent-child relationship may exist. The party requesting denial of the parent-child relationship shall provide the preliminary evidence that the child is not his or her own. The court may grant the parent-child test only if it deems that the parent-child test is really necessary after its examination of the case. In other words, the court may not grant such testing for the case where the party applies for paternity testing merely out of his or her suspicion or speculation, without submitting necessary evidence. However, if the other party agrees to such test even when there is no preliminary evidence, it may be allowed based on the autonomy of the parties.