§ 303.5 Establishment of paternity.

(a) For all cases referred to the IV-D agency or applying for services under § 302.33 of this chapter in which paternity has not been established, the IV-D agency must, as appropriate:

(1) Provide an alleged father the opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge paternity in accordance with § 302.70(a)(5)(iii); and

(2) Attempt to establish paternity by legal process established under State law.

(b) The IV-D agency need not attempt to establish paternity in any case involving incest or forcible rape, or in any case in which legal proceedings for adoption are pending, if, in the opinion of the IV-D agency, it would not be in the best interests of the child to establish paternity.

(c) The IV-D agency must identify and use through competitive procurement laboratories which perform, at reasonable cost, legally and medically acceptable genetic tests which tend to identify the father or exclude the alleged father. The IV-D agency must make available a list of such laboratories to appropriate courts and law enforcement officials, and to the public upon request.

(d)

(1) Upon request of any party in a contested paternity case in accordance with section 466(a)(5)(B) of the Act, and subject to the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, the IV-D agency shall require all parties to submit to genetic tests unless, in the case of an individual receiving aid under the State's title IV-A, IV-E or XIX plan, or those recipients of the food stamp program, as defined under section 3(h) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 who are required to cooperate with the child support program, there has been a determination of good cause for refusal to cooperate under section 454(29) of the Act.

(2) A contested paternity case is any action in which the issue of paternity may be raised under State law and one party denies paternity.

(e)

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, the IV-D agency may charge any individual who is not a recipient of aid under the State's title IV-A or XIX plan a reasonable fee for performing genetic tests.