Deceased Individuals

If a person required for DNA testing is deceased it may still be possible to perform the testing if a sample can be obtained from a hospital or a mortuary. 

An example of such a case is when the man believed to be the father of the child has died prior to the child's birth and the couple were not married.  In such situations the mother may be required to "prove" paternity in order to include the man's name on the birth certificate, to obtain a share of any inheritance for the child or to claim compensation on the child's behalf.

Often in such cases the person's death has been referred to the Coroner for investigation into the cause of death and an autopsy would usually have been performed.  Since the VIFM is closely linked to the State Coroner's Office, it is likely that our laboratory could obtain a bodily sample (eg. blood) from the deceased person.  Note that testing of such a sample requires permission from the deceased person's next of kin.

If an autopsy was not performed, or a post-mortem sample is not available, it may be possible to obtain a biopsy specimen taken in a medical procedure before death.  Testing of personal effects (eg. hairbrush, toothbrush, etc)  would not be valid in these circumstances since the origin of any DNA found on such items could not be proven.