Uses of Legal DNA Testing
By far, the most common reason for using DNA testing in court is to link a biological father to a child for the purpose of establishing a legal requirement to pay child support. By the same token, biological fathers and families have taken the results of DNA testing to court in order to secure shared parental and custody rights in the raising of a child with a reluctant mother.

DNA testing has also been successfully used to establish legal rights to inheritance, and compatibility for organ transplant donation. In addition, a great many rape suspects have been convicted, or acquitted as a result of DNA evidence that has been collected consistently with the rules of evidence and chain of custody documentation.