What Are the Child Abandonment Laws of Louisiana

I have not involved court systems yet but I'm looking for advice. My son will be 8 years old this year and his father has not really been involved much in his life. We were still dating when our son was born, but 'separated' a few years later. The time we were still together, my son's father chose partying and drugs over his son. After we broke up, my son's father would rarely visit or call, and he did not help me to support his son in any way. The only money I received for my son was a few hundred dollars that my son's grandmother gave me out her son's account while he was working on the boat. My son's father moved to texas in april of 2010 and has been living there with a woman and her children ever since. I have not received any help with supporting my son since he moved away. My son's father only came down to visit once since he left and that was in august of 2010 for my son's birthday. My son's father rarely calls to speak to my son and it is affecting my son's emotions and schooling. My son gets depressed when his father randomly calls; yet when his father goes a month without calling, my son seems fine and is not depressed. I have recently stopped allowing my son to speak to his father due to the effect it is having on him when he randomly calls. I recently asked my son's father to call once a week on wednesdays so the calls can be consistent. I agreed to allow him to call on good friday and easter, but he has failed to call my son on both days. I would like to know if my son's father can lose his rights to my son due to lack of communication, visitation, support, and because he moved to another state.

Does he HAVE any rights to LOOSE? Unless you ever took him to court for child support, he was under no obligation to pay. Unless he went to court to have visitation established, you had no obligation to provide it.

And frankly Dad moving to another state is completely irrelevant.

True, and I didn't think of it that way. However, his name is on my son's birth certificate and my son does have his father's last name. If he is not going to be the father that he says he 'wants' to be, I want my son to no longer carry his last name and I wish for my son to have my last name. So how do I go about doing that??

Ok. I wasn't sure if him moving away could have any effect on anything.

You don't, without Dad's permission.

(Or the court).

I'm going to be honest here. If you TRULY don't want your son's father in his life - let things be. Let sleeping dogs lie. Because if he's that uninvolved, and you file for child support or to solidify custody, you're likely going to end up with court ordered visitation for Dad and he's then legally allowed to come and go as he pleases and you'd have little recourse.

See where I'm coming from?

Yes I see exactly what u are saying and it makes sense. Thank you.
However, I am on speaking terms with the father right now. If he agrees to allow my son to carry my last name if he doesn't 'step up', what steps do we take in order to do that?

You petition the probate or family court in the county where the child resides, and request the change. However, the judge is going to want STRONG proof that such a change is in the CHILD'S best interest. Courts typically find that a child knowing and having that connection with the father is IN the child's best interest, and you'll need to meet the burden of proving otherwise. The judge isn't even going to THINK about removing the father's name, even with the father's permission, if the court feels that the only reason for the change is to "punish" dad for not "stepping up" or to pressure him to do so. (And be ready for the judge to tell you that if a potential father doesn't "step up" by marrying you BEFORE having children, then you really have no reason to expect to hold them to a HIGHER standard after the fact - only the judge won't say it that nicely.)

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Quoting aardvarc

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Does he HAVE any rights to LOOSE?

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He undoubtedly has rights as a father.

Both he and the mother are acting as if he were a (deadbeat) father. That's a pretty good indication that the courts will recognize him as the father.

As such, he probably has obligations to pay child support, and the mother has obligations to allow visitation.

However, if neither he nor she go to court to enforce those obligations, the court is likely to not get involved, though if Child Protection Services gets involved, CPS may ask the court to enforce certain obligations.

That's the thing though...I DO want my son to have his father in his life. I've been trying all these years to make agreements with his father so he can have contact with him. His father isn't holding up his end of the deal though. I asked him to call consistently, at least once a week, and he has yet to call. I have explained to him that this hurts our son! Yet he still won't call like he should. He wants to just let months go by w/o calling then just randomly call when he feels like it. That's what hurts my son!! Am I supposed to just let him get away with hurting him or should I continue to keep my foot down?

No, you have to teach your son coping skills. He's going to face disappointment and sadness throughout his life - he's old enough now to learn how to deal with such things.