Accurate, Affordable DNA Testing in Washington – Legal & At‑Home Options

You can test at GameDay DNA collection sites or use an at‑home cheek‑swab kit for private peace of mind. For court or child‑support cases, parents commonly work with the Division of Child Support (DCS) within the Department of Social and Health Services, and county resources describing support for the establishment of paternity and child support explain that DCS and prosecutors help file parentage actions, arrange genetic testing, and schedule support hearings once paternity is established.

Washington uses the Uniform Parentage Act, and courts or child support agencies can order genetic testing in a parentage case under RCW 26.26A.310 on authority to order or deny genetic testing, which requires a sworn statement alleging or denying genetic parentage before testing is ordered. The chapter on genetic testing and parentage in the Uniform Parentage Act and family‑law explainers on paternity or parentage cases for unmarried couples note that DNA results are highly accurate and are routinely used by courts and DCS to adjudicate parentage and enter child‑support, custody, and visitation orders when a presumed or alleged parent contests parentage.

Most legal paternity tests in Washington use buccal‑swab (cheek‑swab) DNA samples from the child and the alleged father, and sometimes from the mother. Washington family‑law guides on understanding paternity testing in Washington State explain that genetic testing typically involves cheek‑swab samples from each party and can establish or rule out parentage with 99.99% accuracy, while county family‑support materials describe DCS and prosecutor’s offices working with contracted labs to collect those samples in child‑support and parentage cases.

For at‑home kits, use the sterile swabs in your kit, rub firmly along the inside of each cheek for the full time listed in the instructions, let the swabs air‑dry, and seal them in labeled envelopes before mailing. Washington‑based paternity explainers such as understanding paternity testing in Washington State note that private and at‑home tests use the same basic cheek‑swab method as court‑ordered or DCS‑arranged tests, but only documented chain‑of‑custody collections arranged through a court or child support agency are accepted as legal proof in parentage and support cases.

GameDay DNA provides results by secure online portal or encrypted email, with printed reports available for legal tests. When genetic testing is arranged through DCS in a support or parentage case, Washington’s rule on who pays for genetic testing when paternity is an issue explains that DCS contracts with a laboratory, receives the test results, and then mails a notice of the results to the noncustodial parent by certified mail and to the mother or custodial parent by first‑class mail, after which DCS may proceed with or modify a support order based on those findings.

Yes—genetic test results are expressly contemplated by Washington’s Uniform Parentage Act and related court rules. The parentage chapter RCW 26.26A and practice guides on paternity or parentage cases for unmarried couples explain that courts often order DNA tests in contested cases and admit certified lab reports as key evidence when adjudicating parentage, while provisions like RCW 26.26A.310 govern when testing must or may be ordered and how results are used or, in limited situations, when testing can be denied to protect an existing legal parent‑child relationship.

Either parent, the child (through a representative), or the state (through DCS or a prosecuting attorney) may initiate a proceeding to adjudicate parentage in Washington. The Uniform Parentage Act in RCW 26.26A and Washington practice materials such as the parentage guide for advocates explain that an alleged genetic parent, an individual claiming or denying parentage, a presumed parent, or a child support agency can bring a parentage action in superior court, where the judge may order genetic testing under RCW 26.26A.310 if the statutory standards are met.

In special situations—such as when an alleged father has died or is unavailable—Washington courts and child‑support attorneys can sometimes use DNA from retained samples or relatives to help resolve parentage. County prosecutor materials for the Family Support Division in Pierce County explain that in cases where an alleged father dies before signing a paternity acknowledgment, the office may be able to facilitate genetic testing using samples collected by the county medical examiner with the family’s permission, and the parentage chapter RCW 26.26A allows courts to adjudicate parentage using genetic evidence and other proof even when the birth parent is not available for testing.