The paternity test is solely intended to determine the biological father of a child. Thus, the natural perception is the alleged father needs to be present when for this test. Interestingly, there are countless instances when a paternity test without the father has been successfully conducted. This is largely possible due to the advent of advanced technologies. The results are also accurate.
In situations where the person, who is the alleged father, is not available for the paternity test, the collection of samples that the person uses frequently can be tested. These can include his toothbrush, hair, used tissues, cigarette butts and so on. Actually, the list of the possible things that can be tested is pretty exhaustive. Yet, another way of verifying the parentage of the person with the child can be done by testing the people related to that person. This is also known as the autopsy sample. The parents of that person or his other children can be tested. However, the chances of accuracy are lesser in this form of test. The direct testing of the father with the child will always have a higher chance of being accurate. But, in situations where the father is unavailable for the test, more people in the family needs to be tested to achieve the highest levels of accuracy.
If a paternity DNA test is done without the knowledge of the alleged father, this is referred as a non-legal paternity test. Therefore, if a lawsuit is filed, this test will not be considered valid. To be admissible in the court of law, the alleged father has to sign a Chain of Custody form, that makes the entire procedure legal. In case, the alleged father refuses to undergo a paternity test ignoring the directive of the court, the person will be charged for offence and legal action will be necessarily carried out against him.
During the absence of the alleged father the sample collection becomes very important. For achieving accuracy, an adequate amount of DNA should be present from the collected samples. The bottom line is, in case a paternity test without the father needs to be done it can succeed depending on the above-mentioned factors.