DNA Paternity Testing Where the Parent is Deceased
The most common form of DNA testing, used to establish the biological relationship between two or more people, is the paternity test. This is generally employed to resolve disputed paternity, and usually involves a simple test employing a sample collected using an oral swab. However, in cases where the alleged father is deceased, this paternity test is more awkward, and the sampling procedures more complicated.
Alternative Testing Options to a Paternity Test
It might seem that once the alleged father has died, the truth of paternity will die with him. That is not in fact true, and there are ways establishing paternity, even if the alleged father is no longer with us. Naturally, the situation is more complex, but techniques such as DNA Relationship Testing are available, that can establish a relationship by determining the DNA profiles of close family members. A child’s DNA can be compared to that of its alleged grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc. In this way, it is possible to determine paternity indirectly without doing a direct paternity test.
Apart from that, direct DNA screening can still be carried out in certain circumstance, as exemplified in the three types of case below.
Case 1 – Recently Deceased – up to One Week
If the alleged father has died only recently, and a viable sample can still be taken, then it is possible for the client to get permission to take samples in the form of fingernail cuttings or hair samples (complete with root) – preferable both. It is possible to extract DNA from each of these for establishing paternity. To be viable for a paternity test, samples must preferably be taken no more than a week after death.
Case 2 – The Samples Available
If the deceased has been buried you might be able to gather indirect samples such as DNA from a toothbrush, a cigarette butt or an unwashed cup – just as you see in the movies, though it is not as easy to extract DNA from these samples as the movies would have you believe. Nevertheless, it can be done, but the technique is not guaranteed success. The amount of DNA obtained might not be enough to test to complete the paternity test, although the science produces just as much proof.
Case 3 – Exhumation for the DNA Samples
Where justified, the body can be exhumed in order to obtain a sample of DNA from the deceased for a paternity test. Where the body has been buried for a sufficient period of time for no soft tissue to be remaining, it is recommended to take a two gram bone sample from the humerus or the femoral shaft, or alternatively, two teeth.
Obviously, such a sample is normally made available only where there are pressing reasons for paternity to be legally established. Due to the difficulty in obtaining the sample for a paternity test, it is highly recommended to seek the advice of a forensic pathologist or other expert because the costs of such analyses are high, and you need advice as to the probability of success from your sample.
homeDNAdirect UK specializes in the provision of a wide range of DNA Testing and DNA Paternity Testing services to assist in the determination of a range of familial relationships for both legal and private cases.
Grandparents Can Get Involved With Paternity Testing as Well
Traditionally, we think of paternity testing a something that involves a wronged spouse or a father looking to see if he has a paternal relationship with a particular child, but there are other instances where dna testing is used for the betterment of people as well.
DNA Testing
We’re all familiar with the fact that dna testing is widely used to solve criminal activities as well but one of the places where people might be surprised to find it being implemented is with cases concerning the grandparentage of individuals. Generally, this kind of test is used to determine if two people can be the biological grandparents of a child. Like other kinds of dna testing and including a paternity dna test before birth, this process requires both the consent and samples be collected from all the parties involved.
This is a procedure used to determine the way a family’s relationship works with each other when the father isn’t available for testing. As with the other kinds of dna testing, there’s a need to find these relationships as they pertain to claims that are being made for social security and other inheritance claims.
Reputation
Of course the need for this kind of dna testing generally means that the people involved want to make sure they get in touch with the best facilities that can carry these tests out in a reasonable and timely manner. That’s where reputation means everything to these paternity testing companies. It’s easy to find the best of these places online but there are a few other routes that you can take to ensure that the facility you choose will give you the best service possible. You can check their reputation several ways including:
- Asking friends and relatives what they know.
- Looking on the Internet to see what’s been posted about any particular paternity testing company.
– Asking professionals like lawyers in your community who they use.
Patricia Donaldson is a nurse who works with paternity testing. She knows all areas of the business and is considered an expert in the dna paternity testing version of the procedure.
Can I Do a Paternity Test if the Alleged Father is Dead?
DNA testing is the most reliable way of confirming the biological relationship between two individuals. The most widely applied test is the DNA Paternity test whereby an alleged father is tested to confirm whether he is the biological father of a child or not. The test is relatively straightforward to do and involves rubbing oral swabs on the inside of the mouth and submitting it to the laboratory for analysis.
However, there are situations where the alleged father is not available for testing because he has passed away. Many think that in such circumstances there is no solution to this problem and the paternity can never be established conclusively.
In reality, there are a number of options possible for confirming the identity of the father. One of them is through DNA Relationship Testing, which is similar to DNA Paternity Testing but involves testing close members of the family to confirm various types of relationships. Tests can be performed between siblings, uncle/aunt and niece/nephew and grandparents. These tests are beyond the scope of this article but are worth exploring as an option where the father is not available for testing.
In case of death, we will explore three separate scenarios and what the client needs to do in these situations:
Case 1: If the person has just died and it is still possible to obtain biological material from the body (usually this period is not more than one week from time of death), it is recommended that the Client tries to obtain (where possible) hair samples with root as well as fingernail cuttings. A technically qualified laboratory should be able to extract DNA from these samples and use the DNA to perform the paternity comparison.
Case 2: In the event that the body has already been buried, samples may be obtained in an indirect manner – for example through a toothbrush, comb (might contain useful hairs), dentures or recently smoked cigarettes. These samples are all likely to contain DNA material that can be used to perform the test. However, success in obtaining DNA from such samples depend on a number of factors most importantly the condition of the sample and how much DNA it contains (e.g. a fully smoked cigarette vs a relatively unused one.)
Case 3: In cases where the body has been buried for a number of years, and the samples available are skeletal remains, it is recommend that a bone fragment from the shaft of the femur and/or the humerus weighing approximately 2 grams and/or two teeth per individual are obtained.
The above are some of the options available. The most important element is to be able to obtain a sample from the deceased person that may contain DNA. Of course the costs and difficulties in obtaining a sample in Case 3 (e.g. body will require exhumation) are relatively higher than simply obtaining some hair or fingernails from the body. However, each case has its own specifics and one is always advised to seek advice from an expert in this field (e.g. forensic pathologist) or the company that will be used to do the testing.
Top writer Kevin Camilleri writes about dna paternity test. The author focuses on topics about dna paternity and dna testing. Additional resources and articles written by Kevin Camilleri related to dna paternity testing are accessible on the net.