The Queens Family Court should have allowed an incarcerated man to take a paternity test to determine if he is a child’s father before taking away his parental rights on abandonment grounds, an appellate court ruled.
“Indeed, without the benefit of DNA testing, the appellant will be subject to the stigma of an abandonment finding as to a child for whom he may not have any parental rights or responsibilities,” Appellate Division, Second Department, Justice Mark Dillon wrote in Matter of Heaven A.A., 17460/11. “Moreover, such finding might negatively affect the appellant’s status in potential future court proceedings.”
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