[joentinc]

I am just wanting to know if I there is anyway to change my daughters name without her father? She is five and her father and I have been to court. In court the judge asked if he would like her to have his last name, and he said no. So my daughter has my maiden name. However I am now married and she looks at my husband as her father. I am not wanting her dad to give up his rights to her I would just like for her to feal equal in our family. She is beginning to ask questions and it is hard to explain why her father would not want her to have his last name. Or if changing her last name completely is out of the question.....do you have to have the other parents permission to add a last name to hers? So she would have my maiden name and her stepfathers last name?

[Mr. Knowitall]

You would normally have to go to court and give notice to the child's father, but it shouldn't be a big deal if the biological father consents or simply doesn't object.

You also have the option of an "informal name change", which would involve simply using the new surname. You should check with the child's school, though, as they may have difficulty processing an informal name change.