How do you change your childs last name

Question

my child has her fathers last name. we were never married. i want to change her last name to mine.

Answer 1

You should be able to get the forms at the city hall, or online even.

Answer 2

You contact a family law lawyer and ask. advice over the phone is free. but honestly..i think you'd need your daughter's father to agree to it, since he has parental rights. (or does he?).

if he has parental rights he can contest it. if he has no parental rights it would just be a matter of getting paperwork in for a name change to a judge to sign off on, then taking that paper to the SS office for a new card for your child.

on a personal note though...i think i'd let my child decide that on their own when they were older. (like say 12-16).

i had a friend in jr.high that changed her last name after 13 yrs of her father being a dead beat. she took on her step-father's last name. he didn't adopt her...she just had it legally changed to his. she said she was glad she did it, but was much more glad that her mother allowed HER to decide.

Answer 3

Go through vitals and statistics for your state (most info is on-line).  They will have paperwork for you to complete.

Answer 4

you have to go to court to petition it