Genetic testing sounds like it should settle a paternity question outright, but North Dakota law treats it as more than a simple yes-or-no lab result. The statute sets a specific statistical threshold for what counts as proof, and in some cases a court can refuse to order testing at all, even when someone asks for it.
Getting a Testing Order Requires More Than Just Asking
Under North Dakota Century Code Section 14-20-26, a court must order genetic testing of the child and other designated individuals, but only once the request is backed by a sworn statement from a party to the case: either alleging paternity and stating facts that establish a reasonable probability of sexual contact between the individuals at the relevant time, or denying paternity and stating facts establishing a possibility that any contact that did occur didn’t result in the child’s conception. A support enforcement agency can order testing on its own only when the child has no presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated father yet. Testing cannot be ordered on a fetus before birth, though if more than one man is a candidate, the court can have them tested at the same time or one after another.
The Legal Threshold Is a Specific Number, Not Just “a Match”
North Dakota Century Code Section 14-20-29 sets the actual bar for what genetic testing has to show. A man is rebuttably identified as the father if the testing, using a prior probability of fifty percent, produces at least a ninety-nine percent probability of paternity and a combined paternity index of at least one hundred to one. Once a man clears that threshold, the only way to rebut the finding is with additional qualifying genetic testing that either excludes him as the genetic father or identifies a different man as the possible father. The testing itself has to come from a lab accredited by a recognized accrediting body and can use blood, buccal cells, bone, hair, or other tissue or fluid samples. If testing points to more than one possible father, the court orders further testing to sort out which man is the genetic father.
Sometimes the Court Won’t Order Testing at All
This is the part of the process most people don’t expect: when a child already has a presumed or acknowledged father, North Dakota Century Code Section 14-20-43 lets the court deny a motion for genetic testing entirely, on equitable grounds, if it finds that the mother’s or the father’s own conduct estops them from denying the relationship and that disproving it would be inequitable. In deciding that question, the court weighs factors including how long it’s been since the father learned he might not be the biological parent, how long he has actually filled the role of father, the nature of his relationship with the child, the child’s age, and the harm that could come from disrupting an established relationship. The statute also directs the court to consider how much the passage of time has reduced the chances of establishing another man’s paternity and a support obligation in the child’s favor, which means delay can cut against the person asking for testing just as much as it can cut against the person opposing it. A denial under this section has to be based on clear and convincing evidence, and if the court does deny the testing motion, it must go ahead and adjudicate the presumed or acknowledged father as the child’s legal father. Consistent with this, Section 14-20-48 makes genetic test results inadmissible to adjudicate parentage when a presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated father already exists, unless the testing was done with the consent of both the mother and that father or ordered by the court under Section 14-20-26.
Declining a Test Doesn’t Make the Question Go Away
An order for genetic testing is enforceable by contempt, and North Dakota Century Code Section 14-20-49 allows the court to adjudicate parentage against a person who declines to submit to court-ordered testing precisely because they declined. The mother’s own testing is not a prerequisite either; if she is unavailable or refuses, the court can still order testing of the child and any man whose paternity is at issue. Cost is handled separately under Section 14-20-30: the initial testing is advanced by the support enforcement agency if one is involved, by whoever requested it, by agreement of the parties, or as the court orders, and if a man is later rebuttably identified as the father, the agency can seek reimbursement from him directly. Parents navigating a contested paternity case in North Dakota, particularly one where an existing father-child relationship complicates whether testing should even be ordered, often find it useful to have a firm like Gjesdahl Law, P.C. evaluate which of these provisions applies before filing a motion for testing, since asking for a test the court is likely to deny can slow down a case that might otherwise resolve quickly.
The Bottom Line
Genetic testing in a North Dakota paternity case isn’t just a scientific question, it’s a legal one with its own procedural gate, a defined statistical threshold, and at least one scenario where the law protects an existing father-child bond over a biological answer. Knowing which of those rules applies before requesting or opposing testing is usually more useful than the test result itself.