Tennessee DNA Paternity Testing Law: Orders, Costs, Refusal

Under Tennessee’s DNA paternity testing law, a genetic test performed by an accredited laboratory that shows at least a 95% probability of paternity creates a rebuttable presumption that the tested man is the father, and the burden then shifts to him to disprove it.¹ Modern tests routinely come back above 99%, so the threshold is almost always cleared when the sample is properly collected. The rules that follow govern how you get to a test, how the results are used, and what the result sets in motion.

When a Court Will Order a DNA Test

In a contested paternity case, either party can ask the court for genetic testing. The request has to be supported by a sworn affidavit. If the person is alleging paternity, the affidavit must describe a reasonable possibility of sexual contact between the parties. If the person is denying paternity, it must describe a reasonable possibility that no sexual contact occurred.¹ A judge will not order testing on bare assertion; someone has to put facts on the record.

The people who can file the underlying paternity complaint are the mother (or her parent or guardian if she is a minor), a man claiming to be the father (or his parent or guardian if he is a minor), the child (through a guardian or directly once an adult), and the Tennessee Department of Human Services or its contractor, which commonly files when the mother receives public assistance.² A paternity action can be filed before birth or any time afterward, up to three years after the child reaches majority, which in Tennessee effectively means the child’s 21st birthday.³

In Title IV-D child support cases, the Department of Human Services can order genetic testing on its own without going through the court, following the same affidavit requirements. A court may decline to order a test only if it finds good cause under the Social Security Act to excuse the person from testing, and that exception is narrow.

What Makes a DNA Test Admissible

Tennessee requires that genetic tests be of a type generally acknowledged as reliable by accreditation entities designated by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the laboratory itself must hold approval from such an entity.¹ The statute does not name a specific accreditor by name.

The alleged father, mother, and child each provide a DNA sample, usually through a cheek swab. For results that will stand up in court, chain-of-custody procedures govern every step: participants show government-issued identification at the collection site, a trained professional supervises the collection, and samples are sealed, documented, and transported to the lab under tamper-evident conditions. When more than one man could be the father, the court can order testing for each. If the potential fathers are closely related, such as brothers, father and son, or uncle and nephew, the mother’s sample becomes especially important, and the lab needs advance notice of the relationship so it can analyze additional genetic markers.

Why At-Home Kits Don’t Count

Over-the-counter paternity kits can answer a personal question, but they have no legal weight in Tennessee. There is no verified chain of custody, no third-party witness, and no documentation tying the sample to a specific person. A court will not accept results collected that way. If you need the result for custody, child support, or inheritance purposes, you need a legal test at an accredited facility with supervised collection and ID verification. The cost generally runs between $100 and $500, depending on the lab and turnaround time.

What a 95% Result Does

Once a result at or above 95% is in evidence, the paternity question is tried before the judge, with no jury, and the alleged father carries the burden of presenting compelling evidence against the result. Avenues for challenge include questioning the lab’s methodology, requesting a second test from a different accredited lab, or presenting contradicting evidence. Either party can request additional testing, but the party asking for it pays upfront.¹ Overturning a properly conducted result above 95% without credible contrary evidence is a hard climb.

Who Pays

The party who requests the test pays the initial cost. After the case concludes, the court allocates those costs between the parties. When the Department of Human Services or another state agency requests testing, the agency fronts the expense and can recover it from the person ultimately found to be the parent.¹ If you request the test and the result confirms paternity, expect the cost to appear in the final order.

DNA Testing After Signing an Acknowledgment

If you already signed a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity at the hospital or through the Department of Health, getting to a DNA test is harder than you may think. A VAP is a legal finding of paternity, conclusive without any further court order, and it can support a child support order on its own.⁴

Either signer has 60 days to rescind by filing a sworn rescission form with the Tennessee Office of Vital Records and paying the fee, or by rescinding during a judicial or administrative proceeding involving the child that falls within that 60-day window. After 60 days, the only grounds to challenge a VAP are fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. The challenger has to file a proceeding, notify the other signatory and any involved state agencies, and persuade the court that there is a substantial likelihood one of those grounds existed when the acknowledgment was signed. Only then will the court order genetic testing.⁴ People who sign assuming they can simply DNA-test later are often surprised at how narrow this is.

Refusing a Court-Ordered Test

Refusing a court-ordered DNA test is a losing strategy. Courts can hold a noncompliant party in contempt, which carries fines or jail time. Judges can also draw an adverse inference, treating the refusal as a sign the test would have been unfavorable. The practical outcome is usually the same as a positive result, with contempt sanctions added. Ignoring the paternity action itself is worse: if the defendant is properly served and does not appear or answer, the court can proceed as in any civil default or issue a warrant to compel appearance.² A default can produce a paternity finding and support obligation built entirely on the other party’s evidence.

Tampering with samples, falsifying documents, or otherwise obstructing the process can bring criminal charges for fraud and contempt. When DHS is involved because of public assistance, knowingly providing false information can trigger repayment obligations for benefits the state has already paid.

What Follows a Paternity Finding

Once paternity is established, the court issues a single parentage order that addresses custody, visitation, child support under the state guidelines, the child’s legal name and any birth certificate change, availability of health insurance through either parent, reimbursement of reasonable pregnancy, delivery, and recovery expenses, and allocation of attorney fees.⁵

Retroactive Child Support

Tennessee courts can award child support retroactive to the child’s date of birth. For actions filed on or after July 1, 2017, retroactive support is generally capped at five years from the date the action is filed. The custodial parent can argue for a longer period by showing good cause, such as the other parent avoiding service or using threats to prevent the filing, and the noncustodial parent can argue for a shorter period under the same good-cause standard.⁶ The court also weighs whether the father knew the child existed and whether the mother made reasonable efforts to notify him.⁵

Federal Benefits and Inheritance

A legally established paternity relationship opens the door to benefits that a biological connection alone cannot. A Tennessee parentage order under Section 36-2-311 is accepted by the Social Security Administration as proof of the parent-child relationship, alongside other forms of evidence it recognizes such as hospital and school records and statements from physicians or relatives with direct knowledge.⁷ That order supports Social Security survivor or disability benefits through the father, VA benefits, and inheritance rights under Tennessee intestacy law. Without the legal relationship, a child may not be able to claim benefits even where the biological link is obvious to everyone involved.

1
Justia. Tennessee Code 24-7-112 – Tests to Determine Parentage
2
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-2-305 – Agreement to Establish Parentage
3
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-2-306 – Statute of Limitations
4
Justia. Tennessee Code 24-7-113 – Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity
5
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-2-311 – Order of Parentage
6
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-5-101 – Child Support Order
7
Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 1712 – What Other Evidence Proves Paternity