My son has my maiden name for his legal last name. Do I still have 2 go thru all the filing & fees 2 change it

Question

In California, it costs over 300.00 to change a name and I have to put it in the paper for 3 weeks, I think they said. It's MY name to MY married name. His biological father has nothing to do with the names.

Answer 1

Yes if you want to do it legally IE for passport reasons etc.

Answer 2

Gotta ask a lawyer on this one.  In many cases, you would actually need to start adoption proceedings, because after all, he's taking your new husband's name, and your new husband is still his stepdad unless he adopts your son.  It might be worth it to consult someone on this, because it would be better to go through the proceedings now and have your family unified by name as well as by heart.

Answer 3

If your current husband is not adopting your child why would you change his last name? If he is adopting him you can change any part of his name as part of the adoption process without incurring additional fees.

I changed my entire name when I was adopted by my Mother's new husband because I had originally been named after my biological father, a man whom I'd never met.

I think if you just change his name to your married name he may resent it later.

Answer 4

I changed my middle name from "Bryan" to "Brian" at one point in my checkered past. "Bryan" was on my birth certificate. "Brian" was what I used, out of ignorance, (my 1st grade teacher told me how to spell "Brian") from 1st grade onwards to age 30. When I went to get a passport, I had to jump through hoops you would not believe. It was nice that they considered me an international spy, capable of changing my name to throw the CIA off my track, but I almost missed a trip to Peru.

The simplest thing, from your son's point of view, would be to leave it alone. That means he will have to say "My name is John Smith, but my mom and dad are Mary and Bill Jones" a lot. (Assuming your new husband is going to be his father.)

The next simplest thing for him would be for you to take a deep breath, pay the money, fill out the forms, run the notice and get about a dozen notarized copies of the legal name change and keep them on hand.

The cheapest thing would be to change it "by use", which is quasi-legal. Women do it all the time. They show the DMV, SSA, their employer, etc. their marriage license and get a new name.  Miss Jane Smith becomes Mrs. Jane Jones, thank you very much, congratulations and best wishes for a happy life together.

Men can just start using a new name too, but sooner or later, especially if they apply for a passport, move out of state, apply for a driver's license, apply for Social Security benefits, make a will, are mentioned in a will - anything involving lawyers or bureaucrats - they will run into trouble.