767.855.Dismissal if adjudication not in child’s best interest.

A short section with a long reach, and the clearest statement in the subchapter that biology does not always win.

At any time in an action to establish paternity, on the motion of a party or the guardian ad litem, the court — or a supplemental court commissioner — may dismiss the action with respect to a male if it determines that a judicial determination of whether he is the father is not in the child's best interest. The statute says this applies regardless of whether genetic tests have been performed, and regardless of what they showed.

It also releases the court from the testing obligations that otherwise run through the subchapter: where tests have not yet been done, the court is not required to order them, notwithstanding the summons notice, the general testing section, the first appearance, the deceased-respondent provision and the pretrial hearing.

The typical case is a child with a settled family life and a man who may or may not be biologically related to them. This section lets a court decline to run the test rather than run it and then try to unring the bell.