Can a court order a DNA test to prove who a child's father is?
Children Act 2022 and Evidence Act · sources read 4 Oct 2026
A court can order a DNA test in a children's case, such as a claim for child maintenance, but only after it is satisfied there is enough link between the man and the child. A child born during a valid marriage, or within 280 days after it ends, is presumed by law to be the husband's.
- Where
- The Children's Court
Steps
- Apply to the court to decide the child's maintenance.
- If the man denies being the father, ask the court to order a DNA test. Bring evidence of the relationship, because the court must first see enough link between the parties.
- The court decides with the child's best interests as the main consideration.
Watch out
- A child born during a valid marriage, or within 280 days after it ends while the mother stays unmarried, is legally the husband's child, unless it is shown the couple had no access to each other when the child was conceived.
- Courts treat a forced DNA test as an intrusion on bodily integrity and privacy, so they will not order one without a basis for a biological relationship.
- Both parents have a joint duty to maintain a child, whether or not they are married to each other.
Who this covers
- A parent, guardian or custodian of the child, or an authorised officer, can bring a maintenance case to court.
Official sources (3)
- Children Act (No. 29 of 2022) childrenservices.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Evidence Act (Cap. 80) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- PGM (Minor suing through her next friend LKM) v RMB [2021] KEHC 2424 (KLR), High Court at Kisii, R.E. Ougo J, 3 November 2021 new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026