Response to a late paternity / DNA demand

From: [YOUR FULL NAME], parent with care of [CHILD'S NAME, DOB]

Safe contact: [EMAIL / SAFE ADDRESS]

To (1): [PAYING PARENT'S NAME] — by [EMAIL / SOLICITOR]

To (2): Child Maintenance Service — CMS reference [CMS REF]

Date: [DD / MM / YYYY]

1. [PAYING PARENT] has been recorded as [CHILD]'s parent since [DATE]. The basis on which parentage has been accepted is: [select all that apply — named on the birth certificate; married at the time of birth; voluntary maintenance from [DATE]; CMS calculation since [DATE] without objection; contact and parental role exercised throughout].

2. By message dated [DATE] [PAYING PARENT] demanded a DNA test for the first time, [SUMMARY — e.g. days after I applied to increase maintenance / shortly before a court hearing]. A copy is exhibited.

3. Section 26 of the Child Support Act 1991 sets out the statutory presumptions of parentage. [PAYING PARENT] falls within presumption [X] (e.g. named on the birth certificate / married at the time of birth / previously declared the parent). The presumption continues to apply.

4. A paying parent who wishes to dispute parentage must apply under section 27 (or, where appropriate, the Family Law Act 1986) to the court for a declaration. The CMS does not stop collection or revise a calculation merely because parentage is disputed.

5. A scientific (DNA) test may only be directed by the court under section 20 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969. The court will consider whether such a direction is in the best interests of the child.

6. Under section 21(3) of the FLRA 1969 a sample may not be taken from a child under 16 without the consent of the person with care, unless the court is satisfied that it is in the child's best interests to do so. As the parent with care, I do not consent to any private or solicitor-arranged test. Any sample taken without consent or court direction is unlawful and inadmissible.

7. The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration under section 1 of the Children Act 1989.

8. The child has a right under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (incorporated by the Human Rights Act 1998) to respect for private and family life, including the right to a stable and known identity. The European Court of Human Rights has held that long-established parentage may not be displaced without compelling reason (see Mikulić v Croatia [2002] 1 FCR 720; Mizzi v Malta (2006) 46 EHRR 27).

9. The child also has the rights guaranteed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular:

• Article 3 — the child's best interests must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning them;

• Article 7 — the right, as far as possible, to know and be cared for by their parents;

• Article 8 — the right to preserve their identity, including family relations as recognised by law, without unlawful interference; and

• Article 27 — the right to a standard of living adequate for the child's development, with both parents having the primary responsibility to secure it within their means.

10. Forcing a child into a delayed, contested paternity test after years of settled identity engages all of the above and requires the active scrutiny of the court — not a unilateral demand by the paying parent.

11. The current demand is made in the context of a relationship in which I have been subjected to domestic abuse within section 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, including economic abuse within section 1(4). Withholding maintenance and demanding a late DNA test in order to suspend payments, increase pressure on me, or destabilise the child's relationship is itself economic abuse and a continuing course of controlling and coercive behaviour for the purposes of section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.

12. By section 3 of the 2021 Act, [CHILD] is in their own right a victim of domestic abuse where they see, hear or experience the effects of that abuse.

13. This correspondence, and the message of [DATE] now exhibited, will be relied on as evidence of the pattern under Practice Direction 12J and Re H-N [2021] EWCA Civ 448 in any current or future family proceedings.

14. To [PAYING PARENT]: if you maintain that you are not [CHILD]'s parent you must apply to the court for a declaration under section 27 CSA 1991 / section 55A Family Law Act 1986 and seek a direction for a DNA test under section 20 FLRA 1969. Until that is done, the existing CMS calculation stands and must be paid in full and on time. Continued non-payment will be reported to the CMS for enforcement and used in evidence of economic abuse.

15. To the CMS: please continue the existing calculation, treat the dispute as one to be resolved by the court under section 27 CSA 1991, and do not suspend collection. Please record this correspondence on the case file as part of the Domestic Abuse Service Type.

16. All future communication with me about this issue is to be in writing only.

17. Nothing in this letter is to be taken as agreement that the demand is reasonable, lawful or in [CHILD]'s best interests. All of my rights, and those of [CHILD], are expressly reserved.

Yours faithfully,

[SIGN AND PRINT NAME]