In an effort to encourage more potential fathers to step forward and care for their children, The Department of Human Services in Mississippi will offer free paternity tests. According to WJTV, the costs of DNA testing and attorney fees will be waived on scheduled days throughout September.
This is huge news considering DNA testing costs between $300-$500 and attorney fees can cost an additional $1000, so this is great news, isn’t it? Yes and no.
The reason DHS is doing this is to obtain more child support revenue from potential fathers. The goal is to get fathers to step forward, take the test, prove paternity, then slap them with a court order to pay child support. I am a firm believer in fathers taking care of their children, but research shows court ordered child support is not the best way to accomplish the objective.
When fathers are forced to pay “x” amount out of each pay check, sometimes having their wages garnished in addition to spousal support, they begin to resent the system. They tend to flee or take the resentment out on the mother who brought them to court in the first place.
On the other hand, if potential fathers find they are in fact the biological father they tend to, in most circumstances, care for the child to the best of their ability. I’m not saying all dads are saints and there is no need for a child support system. I’m saying most fathers will do what they can with what they have. The child support system should be a second choice to working out an amicable solution between mother and father.
So potential dads of Mississippi, you have a choice. You can show up at DHS on a scheduled day in September and have your uncertainties vanish with results of a free DNA test. The results of that free paternity test will come with a court order that is not free. In fact, it will cost you a significant amount of money for the next 18 years or so.
Your other option is to pay $300-$500 out of your pocket for a paternity test that will give you the certainty you need to care for your child. Once you get your certainty, you should come to a good-natured solution with the child’s mother as to how you plan to help support your spawn.
To court, or not to court. That is the question.
