Man signs birth certificate,finds out he is not the father.DOES THE MOTHER HAVE TO CHANGE BABIES LAST NAME

Question

Please advise asap. we need to know if after 5 years, if the mother has to legally change the babies last name after a man who signed the birth certificate is not the father after a dna test

Answer 1

No, the mother does NOT have to change the baby's name.  Would you really want to disrupt the childs life like that?  He/she is probably in school and is trying to develop a sense of identity.  Does it really matter whose name the baby has?  My mother in law grew up with the last name of a man who wasn't her father and everything was fine.  If the man who signed the birth certificate has found out that he isn't the father AND the court has acnowledged it, then he is in the clear.  He can go on and live his life.  Leave the kid alone though.  He/she has enough problems without having a name change forced upon them.

Answer 2

Once a birth certificate is filed, only the court can change the information. Mom doesn't have to do anything unless the man goes to court to force the change. He had to either sign the certificate himself or sign a consent to have his name listed. So he has to spend the money on an attorney and a suit to have that amended.

I can tell you how far the court goes not to change things. I know a woman named Wendy Harris who was once married to a man named Dan Walters. While married, she used his name. After they were divorced, she kept his last name because of their son. 5 years later she got pregnant by a "donor" and gave birth to a little girl named Maura...Maura Walters. Dan fought tooth and nail to get that little girl's name changed. She''s going to grow up with a false sense that his heritage is also hers. She has no genetic links to Dan at all and his name isn't on the birth certificate as father. But because that was her mom's last name when mom gave birth, mom was allowed to give the baby that name, too.

BTW, it's a myth that most states allow you to give your child "any name you want". You have a lot of latitude on first names and middle names. But they're pretty stringent on giving last names that don't match the parents. You can't name your child Hussein Obama and go around claiming he's secretly related to Barack. I've filed thousands of birth certificates in Cook County Illlinois. The best you can do is file your child's birth certificate as Hussein Obama and then your last name. If you want to change it to Hussein Obama. it has to be done in court and with very good reason. But once a certificate is filed and accepted, whatever is on there is permanent until a judge rules otherwise. If a child had that name for 5 years and is ready to start school, not too many judges will cause that stress on a child and force a name change on him. So the birth certificate stands.

Answer 3

No  well maybe with court order

Answer 4

No.  You can name the baby anything at birth, even the last name.

This becomes the legal name of the baby so to change it would take a court action.  Now if I were the man I would submit the DNA results to the courthouse that has the birth certificate (probably a form involved) to remove his name as the father.

Answer 5

NO.  The mother does not have to change it, and no court can legally order her to just because the alleged father does not want the baby to have his name any more.  A mother can name her baby anything she wants, and even give it a last name that is neither hers nor the baby's father's last name.  She could give the baby a completely different last name from anyone else in the family if she wanted to and it would still be the baby's legal name.

Answer 6

Here in the UK  I know of two instances where the mum has given the name of her partner as the father of her children, leaving the real dad totally unaware that he has children.

Answer 7

In many states, the mother can give the child whatever last name she wants regardless of who the father is, so in this case, no, she probably doesn't HAVE to change the child's name.

The kids last name is the least of the mans worries. The man who was proven not to be the father needs to make sure that there are no further legal steps he needs to take to have his name removed from the child's birth certificate. Even though he has tested, if he is still on the birth certificate, he may still be legally responsible. He may have to petition a court to remove him. I would suggest that he seek out legal advice from a local lawyer as soon as possible to clear this matter up. If he can't afford a lawyer, he can check with the nearest legal college or see if there is a legal aid program through the county or city.