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New Paternity Testing Rules

Legislation on testing for paternity is set to change later this year. The new rules are aimed at corresponding better to modern DNA technology. The bill also gives instructions on taking DNA tests from a deceased person.

The proposal of the Legal Committee of the Finnish Parliament does not permit the exhumation of graves, but it does allow the use of samples taken before death.

The bill also shortens the amount of time after a child's birth in which a paternity suit can be filed.

According to Tuija Brax, the chair of the Legal Committee, says that paternity can be determined so easily nowadays, that the present five-year time limit is excessive. She says that two years is enough.

The present law on paternity testing dates from 1976 and is based on blood type analysis.

Sources: YLE24