Tip of the Month:

DNA Testing in Social Security Cases

Lewis Mishkin is dead. It doesn't really matter how he died or why. He is dead. He is remembered by his girl friend, Lisa Mae Elko and her little boy, little Lewis, Mishkin Jr. They remember him as a good man and a great father. Lewis is remembered for one other thing as well little Lewis' birth certificate.

Getting her life back together, Lisa Mae goes down to the local office of the Social Security Administration to apply for the benefits, which are due to her young son. She really needs that money to help with his support. When she applies, they ask her for documentation that will prove that her son is the legitimate offspring of the late Mr. Mishkin.

She has nothing to show them and they soon realize that Lewis' name is not on the child's birth certificate. Because of lack of documentation, they deny her the child's benefits. How does she get the social security benefits?

This is a common scenario and AABB accredited laboratories routinely performs DNA testing to prove relationship in Social Security cases. What do you need to perform such a test? Well, if the grandparents
of the father (you need both) are willing to test then you can do a grand parentage study. If Mr. Mishkin was autopsied, then samples from the autopsy can be used to compare to the child (this is a desired way to go whenever possible) and finally, if Mr. Mishkin had other children, who are known to be his, then it is possible to perform a sibling relationship study.

Lisa was lucky. The child's kindly grand parents decided to participate in a test and she was able to collect Social Security benefits for the child. They are somewhere living happily ever after.